Fire Burns Brightest In The Dark
by TheAliway
Summary: When Tooth and Jack are asked to find the "adult with the mind of a child", Jack believes that Summer, a dark, moody teenager, is the one they're looking for. But Tooth isn't so sure... Summer reminds her an awful lot of Pitch... Is Summer the one they're looking for, or is she a nightmarish fraud? A Rise Of The Guardians (ROTG) fanfiction.
1. Chapter 1

_Prologue:  
Once upon a time, there was a girl.  
She lived in a magical place, full of sunlight and warmth and brightness that filled her being with golden light. Her whole world was warm, light-filled and summery, and the girl was happy._

_But one day, the girl was sent to a place where the light could not reach her. It was filled with a coldness that seeped into every living being, chilling every creature to the core, and the coldness began to worm its way into the light-filled girl._

_The coldness ate away her light, and gradually the girl became swallowed up in a chilly darkness. _

_Her sunlight died, and the girl became sad._

* * *

It was midnight, and the Man In The Moon had a message to tell the Guardians.  
He found North first. Fortunately, North always had a large window open, and it was through one of North's many windows that MiM was able to project his message.  
North was engrossed with his projects, however. He was tinkering over a new gadget – one for the older children. He shook the tool, testing it on a strip of paper. No, the ink still wasn't flowing correctly. He twisted it open, tinkered with the ink well, screwed it back together, shook it again and pressed the tip to the paper.  
Before he had a chance to test the ink flow, however, he became aware of the shadows flickering across the white surface. He stopped, putting the pen down.  
"Manny?"  
The moonlight danced in response. Moonbeams spelled out words – _assemble the Guardians_.  
North frowned, baby blue eyes troubled. "Pitch?"  
Moonbeams jittered into a clear _no_. The second part of MiM's message played out across the snow-white paper, and North understood.  
"I see. I shall assemble Guardians. Manny, should we be... concerned?"  
Another _no_ flew across the page, and North nodded. "Very well. I will send word."

Jack was hovering over an icy pond, tapping lacy patterns into its surface. The kids were gonna love the mysterious frost animals when they ran out to skate on the ice tomorrow. He tapped the ice with his staff, making sure the ice was good and thick. He added an extra layer, just in case. He didn't want any accidents.  
Suddenly, a bright orb of light exploded in front of him. Jack blinked as an elf hopped out, skidding over the ice. It giggled and tugged Jack's foot.  
"North wants me at the workshop?" Jack asked, staring at the orb. He could see the twinkling lights and jewel colours through the iridescent bubble surface. The elf motioned for him to jump through the orb.  
"Guess it's time for another adventure," Jack said, leaping through the portal.

In the hustle and bustle of the Tooth Palace, Toothiana was busy cooing over a tooth. She was on the verge of tears – this was a child's last baby tooth. Soon, the young boy would start becoming a man. "Isn't it beautifully tragic?" she gushed to Baby Tooth. Baby Tooth brushed away a tear. Last teeth were always bittersweet.  
Before she could put the tooth in its final resting place, a bright bubble of light burst in front of her. An elf waggled its fingers at her through the portal before Baby Tooth flew in front of its face and glared at it.  
The elf motioned for Tooth.  
"North needs us, huh?" Tooth said. "I wonder what's going on this time. Hold the fort for me, will you, Baby Tooth?"  
Baby Tooth chirruped brightly and saluted. Tooth beamed. "I knew my pretty mini-fairies could take care of things," she cooed, before slipping through the portal.

Bunnymund was deep in his warren, teaching some enchanted eggs how to create patterns on the shells of the eggs to be sent to the surface for Easter. The off-season was always a good opportunity to check up on the skills of his helpers, and this particular lot were a bit clumsy with the more difficult patterns. He was demonstrating the proper way to paint little circles when an iridescent flash exploded by his ear. He yelped, almost dropping the egg, and turned to glare at the elf grinning cheekily at him.  
"Whaddya want?" he grumped at the elf. The elf motioned for him to enter the portal.  
"Oh, so when it's _his_ time of the year he expects me to drop everything and pick up after him? Well he's got another thing coming if he -"  
The elf shook its head and made a circle with its gangly hands. Bunnymund's eyes widened. "Manny?"  
The elf nodded gleefully.  
Bunnymund harrumphed and set the egg down. "You take care of things while I'm gone, right?" he instructed the enchanted eggs. "Now let's see what North's got his beard in a twist about this time. Gonna love hearing what this one's about."  
And with a powerful kick, Bunnymund leaped through the portal.

Fifteen minutes past midnight, the Sandman was high in the sky, busy weaving the dreams of thousands of children around the world. However, he found himself distracted from his work by a stray moonbeam twinkling by his face. He turned to face it curiously.  
The moonbeam flickered up towards the moon, and Sandy looked up at its bright face.  
I'm needed at the North Pole? Sandy silently asked. An equally silent answer was sent towards the oldest Guardian. Sandy nodded and asked no more questions, floating in the direction of the North Pole. He'd simply have to continue working at the North Pole.

North waited patiently in the most-windowed room in his workshop, the silver light of the moon bright and reassuring through the glass. He hoped the Guardians would hurry.  
To his delight, the first portals started opening. First Tooth, ever on time. "Hey, North!" she said brightly, settling by a bright stained-glass window. Then Bunnymund, fixing North with a heavy glare. "This better be good," he grumbled. "Just because Easter ain't comin' up doesn't mean I'm not busy!"  
"Oh, is good alright," North said gleefully, smiling smugly at Bunnymund.  
Then Jack, floating through his portal light as air. "Sup, Santa," he said. North frowned. "This 'Santa' name troubles me," he grumbled. "Could the current generations not refrain from such silly name? 'Father Christmas' was bad enough."  
"Still pining for old 'Saint Nick', eh?" Bunnymund teased. "To be fair, anything's better than 'Kris Kringle'. Makes ya sound like a snack." North harrumphed through his beard.

There was a tap on the window. North turned and beamed to see Sandy smiling through the window. "Ah, Sandy!" North exclaimed, relieved to see a sensible face. He opened the window, and Sandy waved at the other Guardians.  
"Aren't you gonna come in?" Jack asked. Sandy shook his head.  
"He's still got work to do, unlike you, Mr Lazybones," North said. "His work continues until sunrise."  
"Anyway, what's this business with Manny that's got your super-extra-extra-large knickers in a knot, North?" Bunnymund asked impatiently. North frowned. "They're only _extra_-extra-large," he grumbled.  
"Anyway, to issue at hand. Manny has a new task for us, one which I believe is best left to younger Guardians." North looked pointedly at Jack and Tooth.  
"Us?" Tooth asked. "Why us?"  
"Manny needs us to find someone," North explained. He stood out of the way of the window, looking towards the floor. The other Guardians followed his lead.  
On the shiny floor of the room, MiM projected the same images he'd projected before to North. First the silhouette of a child, then an adult.  
"A child and an adult?" Jack said, voice filled with scorn. "Wow, Manny, real specific."  
"No no no," North said. "Not two. One. He wants us to find one person."  
"One person..?" Tooth murmured. "Someone who's both a child.. and an adult?"  
Jack twigged first. His eyes widened. "A childlike adult?" he asked.  
North nodded, pleased. "An adult with the mind of a child," he said. "Manny wishes us to find this person. So it is this person I wish for you two to find."  
"Why us?" Tooth repeated.  
"You two are youngest," North said. "Jack particularly knows people of the world best. Some of us.. still out of touch. Especially with adults. But you, Jack, you interact with adults and children every day. You will best recognise this childlike adult. And Tooth, because I need responsible Guardian to keep you out of trouble!"  
Tooth giggled, while Jack scowled. "I'm not that bad!" he protested.  
"You get sidetracked," North said. "Distracted. You want to have fun all the time. Tooth however, she's all work work work. She'll keep you on track."  
"Okay," Jack grumbled. "When do we start?"  
"I think it is best if you start now," North said, becoming serious. "The sooner you find this childlike adult, the sooner we find out why Manny wants us to find them."  
"Okay," Tooth said. "We start now. Come on, Jack."  
Jack smirked, winking at Tooth. "I guess I'm always up for a little adventure," he said mischievously.


	2. Chapter 2

Three days later, and Jack and Tooth had covered almost all of the continents. First Europe, then Africa, then across the oceans to Asia, and Australasia. Nothing. Then across the Pacific to South America, and up into North America. Still nothing.  
Jack was becoming bored. He'd stared into the faces of thousands – millions – of people. Fat adults, thin adults, white adults, black adults, adults with glasses obscuring their features, adults with features stretched and shiny from attempts to stay young, adults with wrinkled, weathered faces, adults with red, unfocused eyes, adults with smiles, adults with frowns, adults with faces filled with despair, adults with ragged clothes and big smiles, adults pulling children to who gaped in awe at the boy who seemed lighter than air and the glittering, jewel-like fairy girl.  
Jack had never been particularly interested in adults. Adults wanted their children to stay inside and do chores, finish homework – Jack enticed them outside. Adults were too focused on work, responsibilities. Theirs was a dull, unfulfilling life. Jack had no interest in people who were so inexplicably obsessed with being dull. He should have known anything involving adults would be all kinds of boring.  
They were searching through a shopping mall in Anchorage, Alaska when for the first time, Jack found an interesting face.  
They were hovering over the bustling shoppers. "North never said this was gonna be so boring!" Jack complained, as Tooth busily inspected the sea of heads below them. "Now, Jack, you can't give up now," she said. "We've ruled out everywhere else, so the childlike adult must be here somewhere. I just know it! Which means we finish soon." She smiled impishly at Jack. "Just keep reminding yourself it's nearly over! Don't give up when we're so close to the finish line."  
Jack blew a raspberry, and Tooth giggled. "Oh, don't be like that!" she chided gently. "It'll be over soon."  
"I want it over _now!_" Jack whined, staring moodily down into the crowd below.

Then his eyes widened.  
_That_ was different.  
"Hey Tooth, come look at this," he said. Tooth whisked over and peered in the direction Jack was pointing.  
He was pointing at someone in the crowd. From above, the person appeared to be a girl. Her face was obscured by thick, short black hair slicked into a smooth bob. She had a long red scarf, a black long-sleeved shirt and black shoes and jeans. She looked young, with small shoulders and gangly legs, but walked with slouched shoulders and a cane as if carrying the weight of a long lifetime.  
Tooth frowned. "She doesn't look childlike at all," she said. "Look at her cane. She looks like an old soul, not someone with the mind of a child."  
Jack tilted his head. "I dunno, Tooth," he said. "There's something about her. Does she seem the same as every single human adult we've seen in the past few days?"  
Tooth shook her head. "No, she's different," she admitted. She stared at the girl's black hair and her limp, and an inexplicable shiver went through her feathers. "But... not in a good way."  
The girl passed through the large doors of the mall. "Come on!" Jack said. "I think we should take a closer look."  
"Jack..!" Tooth started to protest, but the silver-haired boy was already gone, zooming away with a mischievous laugh. With a sigh of exasperation, she followed him. "I'll humour him for now, but if this girl doesn't show any sign of being our person within an hour, I'm putting my foot right down and dragging his snowy-white butt out of here," she grumbled.  
The pair followed the girl to a train station, where the girl waited on the platform. She looked around for a seat, but the platform was packed. With a resigned sigh, she leant on her cane.

"We need to take a closer look," Jack insisted. "I haven't even seen her face yet."  
Tooth shook her head. "I don't know, Jack," she said. "I still think we should go -"  
Jack laughed at her. "Come on," he chortled. "She's an adult! It's not like she'll see us."  
With a mocking grin, he took Tooth's hand and floated to the platform, hovering in front of her.

Nobody expected what happened next. Before Jack could get a proper look at her face, the girl's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Her already sallow skin blanched. "Look!" she shrieked.  
"Aaand we're out of here," Tooth said, grabbing Jack's hand and zooming off out of sight. She pulled him on top of the roof over the platform, where they listened intently.  
"Did anyone see that?!" the girl was still shrieking. Jack found a hole that he could peer through to view the unfolding scene. The girl was still pointing in the air, hand shaking, gesticulating wildly with the cane. "There – there was a boy-"  
"Ma'am, are you alright?" Several people drew around her, curious and concerned. A man in a long brown coat held out a hand. "Maybe you should sit down. Nobody saw anything. Are you feeling alright?"  
"No, they were right there!" the girl wailed. "A – a boy and – a bird? Bird girl? They flew – right there, they flew over the platform, they-"  
"Miss, take my seat," a man said. Jack wondered why he couldn't have gotten up earlier when the girl limped onto the platform with her cane.  
"I can't have been the only one who saw it!" the girl yelled as three people bundled her onto the bench. She looked really upset. Jack still couldn't see her face, but the girl was shaking.  
"Ma'am, do you need help getting home? I can call a cab -"  
"No! No... I'm fine."  
The girl slumped in defeat. Jack looked up at Tooth and grinned triumphantly. Tooth glared at him. "Okay, I can't explain that, Mr 'but she's an adult so she can't see us', but I still think there's something wrong about her," she said.  
Jack shrugged. "She's an adult who can see us," he said. "No adult should be able to see us, and no adult _has_ seen us until now. I told you she was different. And even if she's not exactly the one Manny wanted us to find, I still think she needs to come with us. Even if only so we can figure out why she can see us."  
Tooth shrugged. She still felt there was something wrong, but she couldn't work out what. And Jack had a valid point. They were meant to be invisible to adults, yet this clearly adult girl had seen them.  
She looked through the hole down at the girl. She still looked unhappy. She sighed. "Okay," she said. "We'll follow her to her home. Hopefully she lives alone. Once we get her alone, we can approach her. That's our plan."  
Jack beamed victoriously. "Let's hope her train comes soon," he said.

The train journey had been mercifully short – clinging to the top of the carriage was never a comfortable way to travel. After the train trip, the pair cautiously followed the girl back to a block of apartments. They managed to slip into the building behind her – Tooth almost got her tail feathers caught in the door – and watched her walk into an elevator.  
"Damn!" Jack said. "Did you see her punch any numbers?"  
"Just," Tooth said. "She almost saw me. She hit number six. What does that mean?"  
"Seriously?" Jack asked, starting the climb up the stairs. "I thought you said you'd been in the field more lately."  
Tooth frowned at him. "I don't exactly use the box-things. I, you know, _fly_."  
"They're called elevators."  
"What do they do?"  
"You walk into it, press your floor number, and the box goes up. It stops at your floor, the doors open, you walk out. It's easier than climbing stairs."  
"So when she pressed six.."  
"The elevator took her to the sixth floor. So we walk up to the sixth floor."  
"What powers it?" Tooth looked wildly curious. "I thought humans still didn't use magic much."  
"They don't," Jack said. "I don't know how it's powered, but it's not by magic. It's all... mechanical type stuff. Not exactly interesting."  
They reached the sixth floor, and stared down the corridor at door after door after door.  
"So... what do we do now?" Tooth asked. "The elevator doesn't take you to your apartment, does it?"  
"Nope, just the floor," Jack sighed. "So we now have to figure out which floor this girl lives in."  
Tooth smirked. "My specialty," she said. "Where's the window?"  
The pair found an open window, and flew out of the building. Tooth hovered by each window, peering carefully inside. "Nope," she said. "Nope... no... definitely not this one."  
She finally stopped outside a large, open window. "Ha!" she said. "This is the one."  
"How do you know?" Jack asked.  
Tooth fixed him with a patronising look. "Because she's standing in the kitchen opening the fridge," she said, pointing. "Oh," Jack said, feeling foolish.

He peered through the window. Sure enough, she was digging through a fridge. She reappeared, shutting the fridge door, with a soft drink can in hand.  
"Okay, what we don't want to do is scare her," Tooth said. "You saw how she reacted at the train station. We need to approach her gently, not surprise her."  
"I'm the master of gentle approaches," Jack boasted. "Let me handle this one.

He tapped the window gently, ripples of frost spreading across the glassy surface. With a hand, he wrote_ "Hello"_ backwards, followed by a smiley face.  
"And now to catch her attention," he said. He moved to the opening of the window, blowing cold air into the apartment.  
As he worked, Tooth watched the girl. She shivered in response to the cold air, pulling her scarf tighter. She looked up to the window. "You can stop now," Tooth hissed, watching the girl cross the room to the window to close it.  
They ducked, waiting.  
There was a pause, then the window was flung wide open. A pinched face, looked around, looked up, then looked down.  
The girl gasped. Jack smiled and waved sheepishly.  
"You!" she exclaimed, then slammed the window shut.  
"Smooth," Tooth said, smirking. "I'm not done yet," Jack muttered. He rose to look through the window. The girl yelped again and jumped back. Jack smiled and wave again. He tapped the window again, writing out _"We're harmless! We just want to talk"_ on the window.  
The girl drew closer again, a curious frown on her face. She opened the window.  
"How are you doing that?" she asked.  
"Let us in and we'll tell you," Jack said.  
"Not if you're gonna freeze out my apartment," she said.  
"That's cool, I can turn down my chill factor," Jack said. The girl bit her lip. "Okay," she said, opening the window fully.  
Jack hopped into the room, closely followed by Tooth, a triumphant grin on his face. "Told ya I'm the master of gentle approaches," he said, while Tooth rolled her eyes.

The girl stared at them for a moment. "Uh.. sit down," she said, motioning towards a couch. "You.. want anything to drink? Eat?"  
"No thanks," Jack said. Tooth also shook her head politely. "We just want to talk to you," she said.  
"Okay," the girl said, sitting down.

"How old are you?" Jack asked.  
"Eighteen," the girl replied.  
"So definitely an adult," Jack said, raising his eyebrows at Tooth. He turned back to the girl, who looked even more confused.

"What's your name?" Jack asked.  
"Summer," the girl said. "Summer Burgess. What about you two?"  
"I'm Jack," Jack said. "Jack Frost." Summer stared at him confusedly.  
"Toothiana, but you can call me Tooth," Tooth said. Summer nodded. "Okay, um. So.. I don't want to sound rude, but what are you?"  
"I'm the Tooth Fairy," Tooth said. "And I'm Jack Frost," Jack said. Summer stared at them for a moment. She grinned nervously, her face a picture of disbelief. "Right. Like the children's characters, right?"  
"Exactly!" Jack said. "Tooth collects teeth, I make it cold."  
"Um. Okay. Yeah, so the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost just casually came over for coffee. Yeah, that doesn't sound completely insane at all," Summer said brightly. "Man, my therapist is gonna _love_ this."  
Jack looked troubled. "You don't believe us, do you?" he asked.  
"Honestly? I think you two are a figment of my imagination," Summer said drily. "I'm hallucinating. I'm so depressed and lonely that my brain decided to make you up to keep me company. Though why I'd decide I'd wanna hang out with a guy who makes everything _cold_ is beyond me. Just another symptom of the insanity, I guess. Either way, it's high time I got some company and bought a collection of cats."

"Seriously?" Jack snapped. "We're not imaginary. We're right here. We exist. And we have feelings, you know."  
"Jack, calm down," Tooth murmured. She knew Jack was still touchy about having not been believed in for three hundred years, and she was afraid he was about to lose his temper over it.  
"We're perfectly real, and I'm gonna prove that to you right now," Jack said. Tooth silently cursed. Not now! He grabbed Summer's hand and dragged to the window. "What are you doing?!" Summer shrieked. "Making a point," Jack said, and pulled her out of the window.  
"Jack, no!" Tooth flitted to the window, looking out in horror. Jack was hovering several metres above the ground, a screaming Summer clinging to his back. "Put me down!" she shrieked.  
"Okay," Jack said impishly, and let go. Summer screamed as she began to fall, but within a few seconds Jack had caught her and was laughing wickedly.  
"Jackson Overland Frost, you put that girl down and behave yourself this instant!" Tooth barked. Jack rolled his eyes and floated back to earth, setting the hysterical girl on the ground. "Believe me now?" he asked. Summer stared at him wildly. Tooth alighted next to Summer. "If you're going to prove your existence to someone, you don't do it by scaring the wits out of them," she snapped.  
"Okay, let's try again," Jack sighed. He spotted a man walking a dog across the road. "Watch this," he said.  
He approached the pair, the dog immediately looking up and whining at Jack. Jack patted the dog, before bringing his attention to the man.  
First, he walked behind him, perfectly mimicking his movements. Tooth stifled a giggle.  
Then, Jack hovered above him, and conjured a mini snow cloud over the man. The man stopped and flailed his arms in exasperation as snow billowed all around him. Then he stumbled and struggled to stand as Jack blew a gust of freezing gale force winds at him. After that, Jack froze the man's shoes to the icy pavement.  
Yelling, shivering, icicles dangling from his ears and in a thoroughly bad mood, the man huffed and grunted as he struggled to move his feet. "What are you looking at?!" he yelled at Summer. Summer suppressed a smile.

Jack returned, triumphant. "Do you believe me now?" he asked smugly. Summer sighed. "Okay," she said. "Maybe you're not a figment of my imagination. Can we go back to my apartment now? It's freezing."

Jack and Tooth carried Summer back to her apartment. Summer closed the window and turned on the heater. "Okay," she said. "What do you two want? Why are you here?"  
"Tooth and I aren't the only childhood characters, as you call us, that exist," Jack explained. "There's a group of us. North – you know him as Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Sand Man, the Man in the Moon. They exist too, and we all form a group known as the Guardians."  
"Guardians of what?" Summer asked.  
"Childhood," Jack explained. "We protect children, and the essence of what makes them children. So Tooth is the guardian of memories, I'm the guardian of fun, North is the guardian of wonder, and so on."  
"Okay," Summer said, looking impatient. "What does that have to do with you being here?"  
"The Man in the Moon – or Manny as we call him – is kinda like our leader. He keeps a constant eye on the whole world, so he knows everything that goes on. And since he knows what goes on, he usually tells us if there are problems we need to fix. So, if something's threatening the children of the world."  
Summer smirked. "I'm threatening the children of the world?" she asked darkly. Tooth shivered. She didn't know why.

"No – well, we don't know," Jack said. "A few days ago, Manny told us we needed to find someone. He didn't say why. He just said we needed to find an adult with the mind of a child. And we think that's you."  
Summer blinked. A melancholy expression fell over her face like a veil. "I think you've got the wrong person," she said quietly. The dark look on her face was awfully familiar.

"Well, whatever the case is, you can see us," Jack said. "And no adult should be able to see us. In fact, no adult has seen us the entire time we've been searching, and we've checked out a lot of adults. So we still think we need to take you back to the other Guardians so we can figure out why that is."

Summer sighed. "Okay," she said. "I'll come with you. Just wait here while I pack my things."

As she stood up to leave, Tooth suddenly realised why Summer disturbed her. The realisation sent a thrill of horror through her, and she desperately wanted to tell Summer she couldn't come, there was no way they were bringing her back to the Guardian's base, they simply couldn't trust her, but the words wouldn't get past the knot of fear in her throat.

In that moment, that very small moment that seemed to stretch out for an eternity yet didn't last long enough for Tooth to double-check her vision, Summer, in her dark clothes and hair and pale, pinched face, had reminded her terrifyingly of Pitch.


	3. Chapter 3

Tooth's revelation terrified her. When Jack playfully pulled North's snow globe from his jumper and bounced it from hand to hand, she did not smile or laugh. She watched Summer. The girl smiled wanly at his antics, but did not laugh.  
_She's like Pitch_, Tooth thought. _Just like him. Dark, scary... we're making a mistake._  
"Aw, c'mon, I can see you're just wanting to crack a real smile!" Jack exclaimed, tossing the snow globe to Summer. Summer yelped as the reached for it, nearly dropping it. She didn't laugh. "It could have broken!" she snapped.  
"Aww, lighten up!" Jack took the snow globe and, with a naughty grin, smashed it to the ground. Summer yelped as the orb exploded on the carpet, but the cry died when the portal became apparent. "That's not funny!" she yelled.

"It's hilarious!" Jack insisted.  
Tooth realised something else as she watched the banter.  
Jack never messed around with her like that.  
She began to feel the first hot slivers of jealousy slide into her chest.

"Let's go before the portal closes," Tooth snapped, rising into the air and darting forward into the portal.  
"Wow, someone's got their tail feathers in a twist today," Jack said, but Tooth ignored him.  
"Alrighty then. Come on Summer, time to meet the Guardians."  
Jack looked back at Summer. Under her mop of dark hair, she looked afraid. She clung to her bag tightly. "What's going through the portal like?" she asked timidly.  
"Like being in an elevator," Jack said reassuringly. He reached for her hand. "Your tummy goes woosh, and then it's all over. It's kinda fun, really." He winked at her.  
On the other side of the portal, the other Guardians were waiting. North, Bunnymund, and Sandy waited in a large semi-circle, surrounded by elves and a few yetis. Summer's jaw dropped when she saw the Guardians.  
"Summer," Jack announced, "These are the Guardians. Guardians, this is Summer. We think she might be pretty interesting."  
Summer stared at the three Guardians. "You're San-uh, North," she said, looking intimidated. She stared at his _Naughty/Nice_ tattoos. "Um. Wow. They make you look a lot more family-friendly back home."  
She reacted similarly to Bunnymund. "Are you even a rabbit?" she asked. "You look more like a kangaroo."  
"Definitely a rabbit," Bunnymund said, crossing his arms. "A Pooka, to be precise."  
"Yeah, they make you a lot more family friendly too," Summer said cautiously.  
Her eyes widened when they alighted on Sandy. "So _you're_ the Sand Man," she said curiously, leaning close to look at him. "I've got a lot of questions for _you_."  
It got very quiet. Jack coughed loudly. "Uh, so," he said. "What do you think, guys?"  
"You're certainly different," North observed. "And you can see us."  
"That's why we picked her," Jack said proudly. "She was the _only_ adult who saw us."  
"Pretty good candidate then, if you ask me," Bunnymund said gruffly. "What's the cane for?"  
"Damaged hip and knee joints," Summer said. "I get chronic pain in them. It's easier to walk with a cane."  
Summer kept her eyes fixed on Sandy. Jack could see that Sandy was getting nervous. Why was Summer so interested in Sandy?  
"Well, Summer," North said, "Welcome to the North Pole! We most certainly hope you enjoy your stay here." He beamed cheerily at Summer, who stared blankly. "North Pole, huh?" she said. "No wonder it was cold."  
If Tooth had eyebrows, she would have raised them. Didn't this girl know how to get excited? All of her childhood dreams had been revealed as true. Most people would have been jumping around like maniacs, not commenting on the inclement weather.  
Summer turned to Sandy. "So you seriously conjure dreams for all the children in the world? _All_ of them?"  
Sandy nodded, with an uneasy shrug.  
"Of course he does, he's the bringer of dreams," Bunnymund said impatiently. "What, you think we keep him around for his riveting conversation?"  
Sandy frowned and elbowed Bunnymund.  
Summer ignored the joke. She stared intently at Sandy. "I think your dreamsand might be faulty," she said. "I haven't had a good dream since I was seven."  
Sandy's eyes widened in surprise. A question mark appeared over his head.  
"What do you mean, no good dreams?" Jack asked. He felt uneasy.  
"I mean, no good dreams," Summer said. "I stopped having good dreams at all. The only dreams I've had since then were bad. I have then every night. So you might want to run an inspection on your sand."  
Sandy shook his head. It wasn't possible for his dreamsand to be faulty. He gazed at Summer, her intent blue-green eyes drilling him back. He began to feel troubled.  
It wasn't that his dreamsand was being faulty. It was that it was being blocked.

Was this the only child this had happened to?

North coughed to break the silence. "Summer, why don't I take you on a tour of the workshop?" he suggested. "I think you like my toys. I might have something to interest you."  
Summer looked up at North, and shrugged. "I guess," she said.

North bundled the girl out of the room. As the door slammed, the remaining four Guardians stared bewilderedly at each other.

"Well," Bunnymund announced, "That was thoroughly underwhelming."

* * *

In the workshop, North was hoping the strategy that once worked on Jack might work on Summer. There was something curious about her, besides the strange despair that hung about her like a cloud. Every time he caught a glimpse of her eyes, fire seemed to leap in them. Something was smouldering in her, something running deeper than the despair.

"I thought the elves did the work," Summer said, staring at the huge yetis wielding tiny nails and hammers. The yetis' great hands seemed as if they would be too unwieldy and clumsy to hold the tools, but they handled the tiny hammers and chisels and needles with practiced grace and skill.

"They _think_ they do work," North said with a wink. "The yetis know better. What do you think?"  
Summer looked around at the yetis bustling in their work, the bright jewel colours of the toys and the chopping, hammering, and banging sounds, the elves and their chaos. "Not bad," she said.  
North saw Summer's eyes alight on a box of art supplies. He watched her eyes widen. Summer crossed the room and held her hands out almost instinctively to the pencils, paintbrushes and other tools.  
"You like art?" North asked. Summer nodded wordlessly, testing each pencil on a strip of paper with a practiced hand. "Good quality leads," she said quietly.  
North smiled. "I think I have something you might like," he said, leading her to a small room.

The pen he'd been tinkering with earlier still lay on the desk besides the strips of scrap paper.

"This is my latest invention," he proclaimed. "A – how you say – _pet project_ of mine. I intend to give these to older children."  
"What does it do?" Summer asked, rotating the pen in her hands. "It's heavy."  
"It's filled with a special inkwell that never runs dry," North said. "The ink changes colour to whatever colour you fancy. The pen also interacts with brain – it reads the mental processes and adjusts position of hand to imaginings of mind. Theoretically, it better allows images in the mind to translate onto paper." He beamed. "Plus, is eraseable. Is genius, no?"  
He took the pen. "Allow me to demonstrate. So, I want to draw tree, yes? Tree has brown trunk. So I draw brown trunk. Nice, rich, chocolate brown." He scribbled a brown tree trunk. The pen ink was a rich, reddish chocolate colour. "Ahh, yes. Now, trees have green leaves, no? So I draw the green leaves."

North began scribbling leaves. Sure enough, the pen ink had changed to a glorious emerald green. He glanced at Summer. Her eyes were bright and wide open with amazement and her mouth was slightly open.

A warm feeling blossomed in North's belly. _So she can experience wonder after all_, he mused, _she simply needs a little nudge. Very good sign indeed. Good find, Jack._

He handed the pen back to Summer, who grasped it as if it was a precious gem. "It's amazing!" she exclaimed. "Can – can I try?"  
North nodded. "But," he said, "I wish for you to draw something specific for me."  
Summer nodded vigorously. "Sure," she said. "Anything."  
"I want you to draw your dreams for me," North said.  
Summer's eyes darkened momentarily, but she nodded. "Which ones?" she asked. "I mean, I have a lot of dreams so.."  
"The worst ones."  
Summer's mouth set into a grim line. "Are you sure?" she asked. North nodded. He was apprehensive about what he'd see, but he felt it was necessary. Perhaps revealing what her nightmares consisted of would help shed light on the mystery on why she was getting them.

North pulled a chair out for Summer, who sat down with the many pieces of paper.  
And Summer began to draw.

"You're right, drawing is easier with this pen," she said as she worked. "I'm not making nearly as many mistakes."

North didn't respond. He was too engrossed with the images she drew. He found himself seized by a fascinated horror.

"You've been having these since you were seven?" he asked. Summer nodded. "This one was the first," she said, tapping the paper with her pen. "I never forgot it."  
She was pointing towards one of the scenes she'd sketched – a dark, reddish sky, over a forest of twisted trees. The trees were dead, blackened and macabre. They resembled human bodies, twisted and broken almost beyond recognition. Knots in the wood appeared to form screaming faces.  
Within the wood, a spiderweb made of barbed wire stretched between the trees. In its centre, a huge, hulking spider. Its body was like a tarantula's but the head was the shiny smooth carapace of a beetle he didn't recognise. The top of its head – the upper jaw – tapered into a long spike, forked at the end. The lower jaw ended in a shorter spike that rested under the larger spike.  
Between the two spikes, the spider-creature was gripping a small child. She must have been five, and was wearing a nightgown. The child's white-blond hair was a stark contrast to the dark scene. The child's mouth, however, was filled with spiders.  
By the spiderweb stood a sinister black silhouette. North swallowed hard when he saw it.  
"My little sister," Summer explained. "The figure... I think it was a vampire. It controlled the spider, and used it to catch my sister. Then the vampire forced her to eat spiders, otherwise the big spider would kill her."  
"Bizarre spider," North said.  
"The head comes from a Hercules beetle," Summer said. She shuddered. "We had to study them in school, once. Apparently the jaws hurt if they bite you."  
She indicated to different animals prowling in the forest. Rabbits, squirrels, cats and other animals stared drooling out of the image with wild, mad eyes. "The animals were infected or possessed.. they were normal at first, but went mad and started hunting me. The same thing happened to the trees – they'd fall down in front of me or drop branches on me."  
She looked back at North. "I was trying to rescue my little sister, but I also had to get out of the forest within a certain time or I'd die too. I had two minutes to go by the end of the dream. I woke up crying."  
North stared at the scene, and the other dark images around it. "That was just _one_ dream?"  
"You asked for the worst."  
"Are these dreams normal for you?"  
"They are. I have dreams like these every night. Not always as bad as this one, but they're not great either. I don't sleep well."  
North frowned at the silhouette. "I think it's time we returned to the others," he murmured.

* * *

Author note - Herculese beetles actually exist, and they are evil monsters! Where I grew up, we got them in our garden a lot, along with elephant beetles and rhinoceros beetles, both also bizarre creatures.  
Summer's dreams are actually based on my own dreams. I merged a few together for the dream she describes. Summer's nightmares were very much inspired by my own experience - I rarely have good dreams, and have weird, bizarre and often scary dreams every night.  
So yeah. If the dream sounds really out-there, blame my subconscious :P  
And I dare you to google Hercules beetles!  
-Ali


	4. Chapter 4

As they left the room, Summer hesitated. "Do you mind if I hang on to this?" she asked. "I'll give it back, I promise."  
North smiled. "It's yours now," he said. "Is only prototype anyway."  
They walked back to the first room. "Do you draw much?" North asked. Summer nodded. "All the time," she said. "I love drawing. I need to practice more, but I'd like to become an artist one day. Or a writer. I'd like to illustrate my own stories."  
North smiled. That reminded him of someone close to his own heart. He felt an odd twinge of affection for the strange girl next to him. Whatever was wrong with her, surely she couldn't be bad at heart.  
They entered the room; the other Guardians were still there. Jack was methodically freezing and unfreezing several glasses of milk, while Bunnymund had his paws deep in a plate of cookies. Tooth was hovering nearby with Sandy, the two clearly in deep conversation by the looks of the flying clouds of dreamsand.  
Jack froze a cookie just as Bunnymund placed it in his mouth. There was a loud _crunch_. Bunnymund yelped and spat the cookie out, pressing a paw to his cheek and glaring at Jack. Jack cracked up giggling.  
"Tha' wasn't even slightly funny!" Bunnymund protested. "My tooth!"  
"Now if you brushed twice a day and flossed regularly like I told you," Tooth said, "you wouldn't have even felt that."  
"See, Bunny?" Jack asked, eyes twinkling naughtily. "I'm doing it for your own good!"  
"Cheeky buggers," Bunnymund grumbled. He turned and his eyes widened when he saw that North and Summer were back. "Well, you two took your sweet time!" he exclaimed. "This lot have been giving me hell since you left. What did you think of the workshop, Summer?"  
"Pretty amazing," Summer said. Bunnymund raised an eyebrow, looking around – Tooth, Jack and Sandy appeared equally surprised. Amazed? Summer?  
"She particularly like the art supplies," North said cheerily. Summer held out his pen. "This one was seriously cool," she said. "North let me keep it." She smiled gratefully at the big man, who grinned smugly at the Guardians. "Told you she'd enjoy my work," he said triumphantly.

His face became serious. "Onto serious matters now," he said. "We came back because there are things we need to talk about. First of all, Summer drew something for me." He looked troubled. "She drew me her dreams. I thought you should see them."  
He held out the sheet of paper covered with Summer's scribblings. The Guardians crowded around the paper, inspecting the images.  
Tooth felt shivers run through her wings. A heavy weight fell into her stomach and she settled on the floor, folding her trembling wings behind her.  
Sandy took it the hardest. He stared at Summer, questioning in his eyes. "Ever since I was seven," Summer said. Sandy shook his head, a terrible look of dismay on his face, and turned away. He floated out of the window.  
"His entire life's work is to bring good dreams to young children and drive nightmares away," North murmured. "He's disappointed in himself, he feels that by failing you, he has failed entirely."  
Summer gazed out the window after the little golden man. "But it wasn't his fault," she said.  
"Yes, but it's his job," Bunnymund said. "His life's work. It's what he's meant to do."  
Jack looked up from the images. "Who's the dark guy?" he asked.  
"I don't know," Summer said. "I thought he was a vampire or something. He appears in the really worst ones."  
Tooth stared up at Summer. Her bad feeling about the girl was growing stronger.

Suddenly, Sandy came back into the room. The dejected look on his face had been replaced by one of sheer determination.  
His dreamsand formed the shape of a baby above its head. Then a child, then an adult, then an old person. Then a baby again. This repeated for a couple of cycles, then he pointed at Summer.  
"Life?" Jack asked.  
"Life story!" Bunnymund exclaimed.  
Sandy nodded. "Sandy wants Summer to talk about her life," North said. His eyebrows lifted in understanding. "He's wondering if something in your life could have triggered the nightmares."  
Summer nodded timidly. North didn't miss the look of nervousness in her eyes, but nonetheless she cleared her throat. "Well, okay," she said.  
"I grew up somewhere warm," she began. "Nothing like Alaska. Opposite of Alaska, really. I grew up on a Caribbean island, I think. The point was, it was hot, very hot, and sunny.

"It was hot and sunny all year round. It was near the Equator, I think, so we didn't get seasons the same way other places does. It was just summer, all the time.  
"I was very happy there. I loved the sun, I loved the heat. I was very carefree, I spent my days outside in the sun. Playing with other kids, swimming in the ocean, climbing trees. I loved it, those were the happiest days of my life.  
"But when I was about seven, we moved to Alaska. I think my mom was concerned about my education – she wanted me to focus more on school instead of playing all day, and I think she thought the schools were better there. But I hated it.  
"I was very unhappy. It was cold all the time, and the sun wasn't as strong, so it was never nearly as bright. I just wasn't used to the cold at all, so I was constantly freezing. I became very unhappy. I still made friends easily, but we couldn't play like I did back home. I didn't like going outside, because it was so cold, so I stayed shut up indoors a lot. I became withdrawn and quiet, and very sad.  
"I started wearing black a lot – initially it was because I heard black was the best colour to wear to stay warm. In the end, I grew to prefer black, so I wear it all the time now. I even started dyeing my hair. It didn't stop me from being unhappy, though. I became quite depressed.  
"I hit an all-time low when I started developing pain in my hips and knees. It turned out that the constant stiffness in my muscles was putting strain on my joints, which was causing the pain. That's why I have to walk with a cane. And my muscles were stiff because I was always tensed up from the cold. How bad is that, I was so cold that it began damaging me. I felt like I was falling apart.  
"In fact, I was at my worst when Tooth and Jack found me. I was so unhappy, I was seeing a therapist twice a week. When I saw Tooth and Jack, I thought I was going mad. I thought I was so unhappy that my brain had started making up imaginary people in my head to make me feel better. I didn't believe what I was seeing at first."  
Summer shrugged. "And there you have it," she said. "My life story so far."

Sandy's dreamsand formed a scary, skeletal winged horse galloping above his head. The horse formed a question mark.  
"The nightmares?" Summer frowned. "You know what, they actually started around the same time I left my old home."  
Sandy's eyes widened.  
He turned to the other Guardians. With his dreamsand, he formed a golden silhouette of Pitch. Then, the dreamsand morphed into a happy, smiling version of Summer. Then, the happy face slumped into that of misery. Above the miserable face, the golden Pitch appeared, hands reaching down over the girl's head.  
North nodded vigorously. "Of course," he said. "Being away from where she was happiest weakened Summer. Leaving her vulnerable to Pitch's influence." He frowned. "He might be trying to regain power through the girl."  
Tooth shivered. She'd been right. She'd been right all along – Pitch did have something to do with the girl.  
"Hang on," Bunnymund said, "if that's the case, shouldn't there be more unhappy children in the world? Children influenced by Pitch?"  
"If that were the case, Manny would have told us," North responded. "Pitch is weak, very weak. He would only have had strength to influence one child. And, for some reason, he picked Summer."  
Summer cleared her throat. "Um, sorry to interrupt," she said, "but who's Pitch?"  
The Guardians turned to her. "Pitch is an old enemy of ours," North explained. "He brings nightmares and fear to children. You know him as the Boogeyman."  
Inexplicably, Summer shivered. The Guardians glanced at one another.  
"We had a run-in with him a year ago or so," Jack said. "We were almost defeated by him. We were lucky to scrape through. But in the process, we defeated him. He has virtually no power now."  
"We _think_ he has no power," North said cautiously. "Who knows what power he may have gained over the years influencing Summer."  
"That might explain the dark clothes and stuff," Jack said. "What colour is your hair naturally?"  
"Blonde," Summer said. "Sort of coppery blonde. I think. I haven't seen my real hair in so long."  
"I still don't understand why he would have chosen you though," Tooth interjected. "Out of all people, why a girl who came from somewhere sunny?"  
"She was weak," North said. "We already talked about this."  
"Lots of children are weak!" Tooth exclaimed. "North, I see the memories of all the children around the world. Some of those memories are not happy ones. There are thousands of children, weakened and unhappy, and there seems to be more and more every day. Why this girl? Why not another child?"  
She glanced at Summer. "What made her different to all of them?"

Summer looked worried, chewing her lip. "You're saying that all this time, the Boogeyman was making me have those nightmares? Do you think he was the vampire in my dreams?"  
The Guardians looked at each other. Nobody wanted to say it, but all were afraid that it was the truth.

Pitch was making his grand comeback, and he was trying to do it through Summer.

* * *

Author note:  
I know people aren't terribly fond of short chapters, but I like to keep things short and sweet :) On the plus side, you won't get too many filler chapters from me!  
By writing short chapters at a time, I'm actually hoping to move the story along faster. Hopefully it works!  
Also, again, Summer's life story was partly inspired by my own experiences. I grew up in a really hot place, not the Caribbean but somewhere of a similar climate. Then when I was 12 I went to boarding school in Australia, which doesn't sound like it should be very cold but in NSW it does get pretty cold - for someone who grew up in a place where it was always summer, I thought it was freezing!  
And there you go. I hope you enjoy it! :D


	5. Chapter 5

The tone of the room had become very sombre. Summer sat with North, grilling him about Pitch, while the remaining four Guardians crowded around the snacks table despite not being hungry at all.  
"No wonder she needs to lighten up," Jack said, glancing back at Summer and North. "Poor kid's been hanging with Pitch for half her life." He nudged Tooth. "I told you it was a good idea to pick her up," he said. He attempted to affect a joking tone, but it fell flat. The concern in his face was clear. "If we hadn't, well... who knows what could have happened."  
Tooth shrugged. Jack was very interested in Summer all of a sudden. Maybe it was because of this new revelation, maybe he was interested in her for.. other reasons. Tooth didn't want to think about it. She knew it was petty to be jealous, but.. she didn't like how this new girl commanded Jack's attention so.  
She was used to being the only girl in the group of Guardians – even the yetis and elves were all male. And her mini-fairies didn't really count, since they were technically extensions of herself. So she'd never felt challenged, and had never had to compete with other girls for Jack's attention.  
Until now. She glanced at Summer.  
_She's not even that pretty,_ Tooth thought petulantly._ She's all pale and dark and drab. And stars, her teeth! That girl needed braces ten years ago._

Yet, Jack was interested in her. His eyes lit up whenever they alighted on the girl. It worried Tooth.

"Whatever the case, she needs to stay with us for the time being," Bunnymund said. "She's best off with us, where Pitch can't reach her."  
"The bunny is right," North's voice boomed from behind them. The four turned to see North and Summer standing behind them. "The girl shall stay with us for now. I think is best if all of you stay here too, at least until we figure out how to deter Pitch."  
"Where will you stay?" Jack asked.  
"I have many rooms," North said. "Is no problem. Summer, would you like to see one now? You may like to leave your things there, then if you like we can return here."  
"I'm actually pretty tired," Summer admitted. "It's been a long day. I think I'll just stay there, if that's okay."  
Jack looked dismayed, but Bunnymund, Sandy and North nodded. Tooth did so vigorously.  
"Well, goodnight everyone," Summer said, waving.  
"Goodnight Summer!" Jack said. Sandy made a lollipop above his head next to a sleeping baby – sweet dreams. Summer smiled and waved again, then North led her out of the room.

Jack sighed. "Well, it's getting dark. I guess I better hit the hay too," he said, waving at the three other Guardians and leaving the room. "Night, guys."  
Tooth waved back, feeling dejected. Sandy smiled placidly and floated out of the window to start his work for the night. Bunnymund looked at Tooth with a wry grin.  
"Well, I guess I might as well go to bed too," he said with a shrug. "Night, Tooth."  
"Night, Bunnymund," Tooth sighed. She supposed there wasn't much point in her staying up either.  
As she floated along the corridors to the bedroom North had allocated her, she passed a bedroom that had been previously vacant, but now had light peeking through the cracks of the doorway.

_Guess that's the room Summer's staying in, _Tooth realised. She was about to walk past it, but then stopped.  
She wasn't sure why, but she stopped dead in front of Summer's door.  
She tilted her head close to the heavy wood to listen. She could hear the bed creaking and soft taps and scratching noises, the occasional rustle of paper. So Summer was still awake.  
_I should go in._ The thought made Tooth's heart pound – she barely knew Summer. How would Summer react to Tooth visiting uninvited? Would Tooth be disturbing her? If Summer was in her room by herself, she probably wanted to be alone.  
_You can't spend the whole time disliking her just because Jack's taken a fancy to her. You don't even know her. At least try to be friendly before you write her off completely._  
Tooth gulped and knocked on the door. A soft "Come in!" wafted through the door. Tooth opened it and peeked inside.  
Summer was sitting on the bed, surrounded by sheafs of white paper, North's pen in her hand. She had a large, heavy tome placed on her lap, using it as a table for the paper she was drawing on. She looked up with a curious, almost bewildered expression. "Hey, Tooth," she said.  
Tooth glanced at the drawing under her hands and her heart sank. She was drawing Jack.  
Did this mean she liked Jack? The thought made her stomach plummet. An irrational, jealous thought flitted across Tooth's mind – _Jack's mine, you can't have him._  
Summer, noticing that Tooth was looking at her drawing. "Oh!" she exclaimed, and blushed, shoving the drawing under a pile of papers. "That's not a very good one."  
"Oh?" Tooth hovered by the bed.  
"No, I can't seem to get his face right." Summer shrugged. "Eh, it's my first try at him. I'd rather you looked at these ones, they worked out much better. Do you want to look?"  
She picked up the sheaf she'd hidden the Jack drawing under, and handed it to Tooth.  
Tooth's eyes widened. Summer hadn't just drawn Jack – she'd made several detailed sketches of each of the Guardians. She stared at the several different drawings of North, all showing his broad physique at different angles. She'd sketched several different models of his face, all showing various expressions.  
She hadn't done this for just North – similar studies of the other Guardians were there. Tooth felt a warm feeling of pride when she saw that Summer had taken special care in not drawing her legs too thick.  
"These are amazing!" she gushed. "You drew all of these?"  
Summer nodded. "The pen helps," she said, shrugging. "Normally I'd be rubbing out every line a million times trying to get it right, but it was easier using that pen. North was the easiest. I can't seem to nail Jack though, he's just not clear enough in my mind.  
Not clear enough? Tooth inspected the drawings. North must have been pretty clear in Summer's mind for her to sketch in the detail of his tattoos. She pulled out the Jack sketch. In comparison to the sharp details of North, Jack was vague and sketchy. She'd completely messed up the placement of his hair; that wasn't the way it fell above his eyes. And she'd missed the mischievous sparkle in his smile.  
_If Jack isn't even clear enough in her mind for her to draw him properly, she mustn't think of him or look at him much, _Tooth mused. _So... maybe she doesn't like him. Perhaps she's not a threat after all._  
"These are great," Tooth said. She flicked back to the sketches of her, admiring the detail. "They're really great."  
She looked back up at Summer. "Um," she said, "Do you mind if.. if you draw me? While I'm here? You – you'll be able to get the feather details better."  
Summer smiled. It was the first real smile Tooth had seen from her. When she smiled properly, her crooked front teeth actually had a bit of charm to them. "Sure," she said. "That sounds like a fun idea."  
After about an hour, Tooth had stopped hovering in the air in various poses and had settled next to Summer on the large bed, watching her fill in the details of the drawings.  
"You're really good," Tooth said. "And I promise I'm not saying that just because I'm vain."  
Summer smirked. "Like I said, the pen helps. It takes way longer with a normal pencil, and even then I'm not happy with it half the time. I get lost in the details a lot. But this pen sort of prevents that. It's great." She shook her head. "I'm still frustrated I can't draw Jack, though. That just annoys me – I can draw all of you except him. Maybe it's just because _he's_ so annoying."  
Tooth giggled. "He's not that bad," she said. "Usually he behaves himself. He does around me, anyway."  
Summer smiled. "I know he's not so bad around _you,_" she said, nudging Tooth.  
Tooth blinked. "What do you mean?"  
"Oh, he's very good around you. Doesn't bug you or try to get you to play."  
"That's because he knows he can play with me. He knows I enjoy playing with him." She shrugged. "I'm no challenge. Not like you."  
"Challenge? For what?"  
"He's decided he wants to get you to have fun, of course. And Jack likes to win."  
"I'm sure he does."  
Tooth shifted on the bed. "He likes to have fun with everyone else, but he usually gets all quiet around me."  
"I don't think that's such a bad thing."  
"How is it not a bad thing? He wants to play with everyone but me! Because I'm Tooth, I'm always working, I'm no fun.."  
"I don't think that's why he's quiet around you. He likes to play with everyone else, but he's also really cheeky and likes to annoy them. He won't annoy you though. He's more.. gentle with you."  
Summer shrugged her shoulders, and set down her sheaf of paper to look at Tooth. "I know I'm no expert and can't really judge since I've only known you a few hours, but I saw the way you interacted with each other in my apartment. He was happy to knock me around a little, but he behaved himself as soon as he saw you were annoyed. He wants to please you, I guess. It's almost as if he wants to impress you. He's not like that with me or the other Guardians, just you."  
Tooth blinked. That was a different way of looking at things.  
"Anyway, if I'm not mistaken," Summer said, "It looks like you care an awful lot about what he thinks about you. You don't happen to.. have any feelings for him, by any chance?" Summer smiled. "I've seen the way you look at him when you think he's not looking."  
Tooth felt her cheeks grow hot. Was it that obvious? If Summer – who'd only been with them a few hours – had noticed, then had the Guardians noticed?  
Had Jack noticed?  
Summer laughed at her expression. "It's okay! Don't look so flustered. It's not too obvious. I'm not bad with picking up that kind of stuff, that's all."  
"He's not like North, or Sandy, or Bunnymund," Tooth admitted, flushing. "He's different. We're all pretty serious about our work, but he's... carefree. I'm not used to that. I mean, I work around the clock, normally. Being with him is different. There's no deadlines, no obligations, nothing we have to immediately attend to, except for when we had to look for you, of course. It's.. refreshing. I had a free day off a while ago, and he took me to the South Pole. We had so much fun, we made snow angels and had snowball fights and played with penguins, and.. I really enjoyed it. I don't get that with the other Guardians, just him."  
She shrugged. "Whereas I'm just boring old Tooth. I don't make amazing stuff happen. I just collect teeth all day."  
Summer bumped her shoulder against Tooth's. "Aww, don't be like that. Does he ever take any of the other Guardians out on adventures like that?"  
Tooth pondered. "Not really," she said. "They're all too busy, I guess."  
"Orrr, maybe takes you out, and not them, because he likes being with you. Because he thinks _you're_ fun and carefree and make amazing stuff happen."  
Tooth bit her lip. "You're just humouring me."  
"No, I'm making optimistic fact-based assumptions. There's a difference." Summer winked.  
A small blossom of hope fluttered to life in the pit of Tooth's stomach. "You really think he might like me back?"  
"I'm not gonna get your hopes up, but I think it's definitely likely," Summer said. "He _definitely_ likes being with you, and he's _definitely_ careful about himself around you. So he definitely cares for you, a lot." She tapped the pen. "Whatever the case, don't give up on him. Just continue being yourself – if he likes you the same way you like him, something will happen."  
Tooth smiled. "Thanks, Summer. I mean it."  
"No problem," Summer said, smiling. "It's good to talk to someone. I haven't had a good chat like this in a while."  
Tooth shifted, and hugged her knees to her chest. "When was the last time you had a good chat?"  
"Oh, I don't know how long ago. At school, maybe. I had a couple of friends, we were pretty close. We drifted apart after we graduated, though."  
"When did you graduate?"  
"Last year, I was pretty glad to get out."  
"Didn't you enjoy school?"  
"Not all that much. I wasn't very good at anything but Art and English." Summer laughed. "The two things I'm half-good at are two of the most useless things, you can't get a good career in either unless you're really lucky. It's pretty pathetic."  
"Art and writing isn't useless! It's of great value. How do you think stories about us survived? They may have changed over the years – I can't believe they represent me as some pretty blonde girl with butterfly wings – but they survived because of art and storytelling."  
"It might be important, it might be valuable, but that doesn't mean I'll make much money if I do it for a living. In fact, I won't make any money."  
"You shouldn't have such little faith in yourself."  
"I didn't even get into art school! Tooth, I've been working in a supermarket stocking shelves since I graduated. I'm just not good enough to do well."  
Tooth held up the sheaf of paper, covered in inky drawings. "And what are these? These aren't exactly stick figures."  
"But they're not _the best_. Tooth, you don't understand." Summer's eyes were troubled. "To do well at art or storytelling, you have to be the best of the best. Your work has to stand out above everyone else. It's not like other jobs, like accountancy or teaching, where you just have to reach the minimum requirement and that's all you need to do to get a steady income. With art, you can't just be minimum requirement – you have to be the best, you have to stand out, you have to be everyone's favourite. But most people aren't the best. It sucks."  
Tooth bumped her shoulder against Summer's. "That doesn't mean you should give up. You're good at what you do. Someone will recognise that."  
Summer smiled wanly. "Thanks, Tooth."  
"How long have you been drawing, anyway?"  
"Oh, since I could pick up a pencil. I didn't draw so much when I was younger, I was usually outside playing. But after we moved, I drew a lot. I didn't want to go outside, so I stayed indoors. I read, or drew. That's all I did." Summer smirked. "That must have been the only good thing to come out of moving, I think."  
"What was it like growing up in your old home?"  
Summer's eyes twinkled at the childhood memories. "It was great," she said.  
"We lived close to the beach – I think we were a two-minute walk away. I went there every day. I'd run home after school, change into my swimmers, and head to the beach. I was an only child, so I had a lot of freedom. I was always in the water, or building sandcastles. And if I wasn't at the beach, I was playing with friends. It was a small community, I think, so everyone knew each other. We all lived five minutes away from each other, so all the kids were always gathering in someone's backyard to play.  
"We'd climb trees, play tag, or hide-and-seek. If we got hungry, one of the older kids would climb a coconut tree – they were everywhere, in everyone's gardens – and cut down a few. That was always hysterical, we'd always be waiting for someone to fall or for a coconut to hit someone on the head, but that never happened. We just played and laughed and had fun. The girls and I would go to the beach, pretend to be mermaids. One girl had lots of barbie dolls, she'd get them for Christmas every year, and we would take them outside and play with them in the trees. We'd pretend they were jungle girls or fairies something.  
Easter was always hilarious, because it was so hot, all the chocolate eggs would melt. We'd end up running around with handfuls of crushed foil and melted chocolate, so we preferred the real painted eggs since they didn't melt."  
Summer looked at Tooth. "I remember losing my first tooth, too," she said. "I freaked out because I thought I'd lose them all and become toothless. But then I got so excited when my mom told me that if I put my tooth under my pillow, the Tooth Fairy would take it and give me a dollar."  
She leaned back. "I don't remember if I got any dreams. I don't think I dreamed then. I don't know why. I never dreamed, but when we moved I started having the bad dreams and nightmares. I remember being jealous of all the kids who'd talk about their dreams, and wondering about what it'd be like."  
"What were your parents like?" Tooth asked.  
"I had just my mom," Summer replied. "I never knew who my dad was, and she never talked about him. Whoever he was, I think he scared her, because she'd get nervous whenever I asked about it. She left him soon after I was born and moved to my old home. She seemed to think he wouldn't find us there for some reason, but she never told me why.  
"I never felt like I was missing something, though. Some people talk about wanting their other parent, feeling like something's missing, always being curious. I never got that. I was happy with my mom, I didn't feel that I needed a dad. Most of my friends had both parents, but I never felt I was different or inconvenienced. Some of their parents fought a lot, so I was glad I didn't have two parents that fought with each other."  
"You really were such a happy child," Tooth murmured. Summer smiled. "I guess I was," she said. "Thanks for reminding me. I'd started to forget some of those memories. I think I needed them."  
Tooth smiled, warmth flourishing in her chest. It was her job to help remind people of happier childhood memories after all, and that made her happier than collecting the teeth that kept those memories available in the first place.  
It made her happy to have reminded Summer of the memories that made her smile. As she lay back into the pillows while Summer returned to her sketches, Tooth decided that visiting Summer had been a good idea after all.

* * *

Author's note:  
Yay dialogue and character building! I felt it was important to give a few more details about Summer's background, and that tied in nicely with developing her relationship with Tooth. It was also a nice opportunity to explore a little ToothXJack, a pairing I'm very attached to :P  
Next chapter will be more action-filled, I promise!  
Once again, I took a few details from my own life and used them for Summer. There is honestly nothing worse than finding melted chocolate eggs, and the chocolate has oozed out, so it picks up all the grass and dirt from where it's been laying in the garden! Yuck!

Also, drawings! I drew this sketch based on the scene from Chapter 2, where Jack tried to prove a point to Summer :P Tooth ain't taking none of Jack's crap! (artisticmusings-.-tumblr-.-com-image-/-41941575354) (take out the dashes in the link :P)


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Summer walked out of her room and began to look for food. A nearby yeti paused his work to direct her to the kitchens, which turned out to be a huge room filled with yetis cooking food (mostly cookies and sweets) and elves creating the usual chaos.  
Ducking past a shelf piled high with pots, pans and other cooking utensils, she saw Jack, Tooth and Sandy sitting around a small table, the chaos flowing around them as they ate in relative calm.  
Jack looked up and immediately smiled and waved. Summer smiled back.  
"Morning, Summer," Tooth said. "Try the oatmeal, it's delicious."  
"Yeah, and it's the only sugar-free breakfast food North has here," Jack said from his seat beside Tooth, winking at Summer. "Tooth insists we keep our teeth sparkly clean."  
"Yeah, and I don't see _you_ complaining," Tooth said, pointing at Jack's bowl. Jack grinned bashfully. "So I like to take care of my teeth."  
Sandy raised an eyebrow. Jack shot him a heavy look. Summer wondered if Tooth had noticed.

"Is there only oatmeal, or is there anything else?" Summer asked.  
"Ask the yetis," Tooth said. "They're doing the cooking. They just drop another plate off here every now and again, and we either eat it or leave it." She shrugged.  
"Awesome," Summer replied. She caught the eye of a yeti dropping bread into a toaster. He held up two fingers. Summer held up one. The yeti nodded, and took the rest of the bread out of the toaster, leaving one slice in there. He then held up a pot of jam and a pot of honey. Summer pointed to the honey.  
Presently, the yeti brought over a plate with the toast on it and the honey, setting it down in front of Summer. "Thanks," she said, smiling.  
"Good to see you chose the honey!" Tooth said. "Jam is so bad for your teeth, the sugar in honey is much better for you." She shook her head. "I simply can't understand why North doesn't have any Marmite or cream cheese for the toast, all he has is these highly sugary condiments. North's sweet tooth is terrible!"  
"Not as bad as Bunnymund's," Jack added. "He's the worst! Did you see him with the chocolate spread this morning? He spread it _this thick_ on his toast!" Jack held up his thumb and forefinger about an inch and a half. "He looked like he was icing a cake!"  
"And then he ate an actual cake," Tooth said, shaking her head. "I'm surprised his chompers are still intact!"  
"I thought rabbits ate carrots?" Summer asked.  
"He usually eats carrots," Jack confirmed. "Carrots and other vegetables. But first thing in the morning, he insists that he needs bucketloads of sugar to wake up."  
"So he's already eaten?" Summer asked. Jack nodded. "He and North ate ages ago," he said. "Bunnymund needed to get back to his warren to catch up on work for Easter, and North's been working more since it's nearly the Christmas season."  
Summer nodded and chewed her toast. Sandy tapped her shoulder.  
He formed a sleeping child, and then a question mark. _How did you sleep?_  
"I slept really well," Summer answered. "Better than I have in years. No nightmares." She smiled. "It was pretty great. But no dreams."  
Sandy nodded, a pensive look on his face. He returned to his food wordlessly, pondering as he chewed on a glob of oatmeal.  
A yeti clomped over and set down a plate of bacon and eggs in front of Jack. Tooth squeaked and went very white. The yeti looked at her, looked at the plate and yelped. He grabbed it, and flicked the plate so the eggs flew off and splattered onto the head of an unsuspecting elf. He then set the plate of egg-free bacon back on the table.  
Jack smiled sheepishly, pushing the plate aside. "Anyone else feel like bacon?"

* * *

After they'd eaten, Jack managed to coerce Summer into going outside for what he called a 'walk in the snow' with he and Tooth. Summer was initially reluctant, unwilling to go outside where it was even colder. In the end, she insisted on not leaving without layers and layers of jackets, scarves, and hats, and wore two pairs of thick gloves. However, Jack still counted the small victory of getting Summer outside.  
"See? The cold isn't so bad!" Jack insisted once they were outside. "It's fun!"  
He picked up a clump of snow, patted it into a snowball and hit Summer square in the face with it. "Ow!" she yelled, her voice muffled under layers of scarves. She frantically shook off the snow and glared at Jack.  
Jack blinked. That wasn't supposed to happen. Summer was going to be a tougher nut to crack than he initially thought.

He looked around, and his eyes alighted on a large scrap of wood. It was a large log that had been hollowed out, or rotted out, forming a half-cylinder shape. Perfect!  
He picked up the log, carrying it back to the others. Summer hadn't noticed him yet. He thunked the wood down, grabbed Summer and plonked her into the log, and gave it a hard push.  
"Aaahhhhh!"  
The log shot off down the hill, Summer screaming all the way down. Jack laughed gleefully. What was more fun than sledding?  
"Jack, I don't think that was such a good idea," Tooth said as they flew to catch up.  
"What are you talking about?" Jack said. "Sledding's fun! I bet she had a blast."  
"Yeah, a blast of snow to the face."  
"That's the best part!"  
They reached Summer, who was still sitting in the log, looking shell-shocked. "Want another go?" Jack asked hopefully.  
"No!" Summer yelped. "That wasn't fair, Jack, you took me totally by surprise."  
"You would have said no!"  
"Yeah, because I knew it wouldn't be fun!"  
"What do you mean, not fun?"  
Summer stood up, shaking off snow. "I got a faceful of cold wind and snow, Jack. I couldn't enjoy it because it was too cold. That's what I mean by not fun."  
Jack blew a raspberry. "Party pooper. Don't you ever have fun?"  
"Not _this_ kind of fun."  
Tooth waved her arms around. "Come on, guys, calm down. Let's just walk. Walking is fun, right?"

Summer dusted herself off, and Jack dropped to earth with a sigh between Tooth and Summer, apparently deciding to walk on his feet. Tooth remained in the air, hovering next to Jack.  
Summer and Jack stopped arguing, but Tooth was afraid that Jack still had more tricks up his oversized blue sleeve. It was probably a good idea to go back sooner rather than later.  
Tooth glanced over at Summer, and realised that there was another good reason to go back soon – the girl was shivering violently under her jumpers and coats, her hands shaking so hard she could barely grip her cane to walk. Under her scarves, she was pale as death. She looked awful.

_She really can't handle the cold, _Tooth thought. She glanced at Jack. _He needs to change tack a little if he wants to get her to have fun, because she's not going to enjoy anything to do with the cold._

"How are the mini-fairies handling the tooth-collecting?" Jack asked.  
"They're doing well," Tooth replied. "I've taught them well. They can handle it for any length of time, assuming nothing goes wrong. But they'll let me know if there's a problem."  
"How's Baby Tooth?"  
Tooth looked up at Jack. His eyes were filled with an oddly melancholy reminiscence, despite the determined set of his mouth. _He misses her,_ Tooth thought. Jack had gotten pretty close to Baby Tooth, but he hadn't seen her lately – Tooth had been giving more responsibilities to the little fairy since she'd proven herself as the sole mini-fairy when Pitch had kidnapped the others. It was fairly common for Tooth to let Baby Tooth take over when she felt like a break or wanted to hang out with Jack.  
Tooth smiled. "Missing you," she said. "She's been doing well, and she enjoys the extra responsibilities, but she misses you a lot. All the mini-fairies miss you, but she misses you the most."

Jack smiled. "She's a cute little thing. Kinda like her mom."  
_Mom?_ Tooth was confused for a second, the mini-fairies didn't have moms – oh. She blushed.  
"You have mini-fairies?" Summer asked. Tooth hadn't realised that Summer didn't know about her mini-fairies – she remembered that she hadn't brought any, not even Baby Tooth, when they'd found her, and they hadn't mentioned them until now. Oops.  
"She sure does!" Jack answered. "They're like little extensions of herself, they collect all the teeth. They're basically cute mini-versions of Tooth."  
"So little minions?" Summer smiled. "Jealous."  
Summer was limping harder now.  
"We should get going," Tooth said. "It'll be lunch soon, and you know how North is."

Jack looked confused. Tooth jerked her head in the direction of the still-shivering Summer.  
As they made their way back to the North Pole, Tooth wondered about Jack's words. _Kinda like her mom._ Was he flirting with her? Was he messing around, or was he genuinely trying to hint that he liked her, like Summer said?

She didn't know. She was just so confused.  
"Careful, Tooth, you're drifting." Tooth looked up as Jack took her elbow and pulled her back to the group.  
"Oh, sorry." Jack's hand remained cupped under her elbows, cool fingers firm but very gentle. Eventually they slid away, back to Jack's side.  
Tooth hadn't drifted that far; not more than half a metre. Jack had pulled her closer anyway.

They got back to the North Pole in good time – North threw the door open as they approached. "Ah, the travellers return!" he exclaimed. "You nearly missed out on the most important meal of the day!"  
"I thought that was breakfast," Jack said.  
"All mealtimes are the most important," North said by way of explanation.  
Summer took off her coats and scarves, but Tooth saw that even in the warmth of the workshop, she was still shivering. She leant heavily on her cane, limping badly.  
They made their way down to the kitchen, where the five Guardians and one human crowded around the little table, yetis setting down platters of food around them. Chatter erupted as they ate.  
"What is the next step for our unusual friend?" North asked, a leg of turkey in each hand, winking at Summer.

Sandy created a scene of a miniature version of himself defeating a nightmare, a big grin on his face.  
"No nightmares last night?" Bunnymund asked, gnawing on a carrot. Sandy nodded enthusiastically, his golden head a blur.

"Staying with us is indeed beneficial," North said. "But we still do not know if Summer is the adult with the mind of a child that we are looking for."  
"I continue to maintain that I'm right," Jack said stubbornly, a spoonful of ice-cream in hand. "She saw us; nobody else did."  
"That's only one piece of evidence, though," Bunnymund said. "Other than that, we've got nothing."  
"Can't Manny tell us?" Tooth asked.  
North shrugged, an apologetic look on his face. "Manny contacts us when he wishes, we can only wait. And he has said nothing. Of course, that means he has not told us we're wrong. But he will not tell us if we are right, either. For now? Who knows."  
Tooth bit her lip. She hoped North would go along with her idea. "If Summer's going to stay with us for a while longer, perhaps we should move to the Tooth Palace," she suggested. "I know it takes time out of your work schedule, North, but I think Summer will be better there."  
"What do you mean 'better'?" North asked.  
Tooth glanced at Summer. "Forgive me for asking," she said, "but you seem to be getting worse. It's the cold, isn't it?"  
Summer bit her lip, then nodded. "I didn't want to say anything," she mumbled. "But yeah, the cold isn't helping."  
North nodded. "Then we move to the Tooth Palace," he said. "It is the best place for you, Summer."  
"What's the Tooth Palace like?" Summer asked.  
"You'll like it," Tooth said. "It's in a warm part of the world, so it's always hot and sunny. Plus you'll get to meet my mini-fairies."  
Summer smiled. "I'd like that," she said. "When should we leave?"  
"As soon as possible," North declared. "So, after lunch."  
"We're not gonna take the sleigh, are we?" Bunnymund asked, a note of dread in his voice. North winked. "You have permission to dig there if you wish, my friend," he said. Bunnymund flopped back into his chair with a sigh of relief.

"You'll get to see Baby Tooth again," Tooth said to Jack. He smiled beatifically, and Tooth felt a funny rush at the sight of his perfect white teeth. He really had been taking care of them. She didn't know if he took such good care of them before meeting her. "I'm looking forward to that," he said.

* * *

Author's Note:

I was originally gonna have Tooth offering bacon and eggs to Summer since it was the first breakfast food I could think of that didn't have sugar in it. Then it occurred to me why Tooth eating eggs would be a really horrifically bad idea xD  
It is actually really hard to think of breakfast foods with no sugar in them. Or maybe that's just because I eat coco pops and chocolate milk for breakfast. Fruit salad was an idea, but why would you eat fruit – cold, watery fruit – in the North Pole? :P  
Also, more art, yay! I can't seem to stop drawing Jack and Tooth together, help xD  
(24-.-media-.-tumblr-.-com-/-882b0142c7aa761ba1541b57861f e53e-/-tumblr_mhljtqopol1rjvfojo1_1280-.-png) - once again, take out all of these horizontal dashes: "-"  
Enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

After lunch, four Guardians and one human piled into the sleigh. Bunnymund gave them a quick wave before tapping the ground with his foot, opening a new tunnel. "See ya at the Palace," he said, leaping in, the tunnel closing behind him.  
The rest made themselves comfortable in the sleigh. Summer in particular was quite nervous about the sleigh. "Aren't there any seatbelts?" she asked, patting the seat around her, a hysterical note entering her voice.  
"I had them taken out years ago," North said airily. "Fear not; is perfectly safe."  
"It would be safer if there were seatbelts!" Summer exclaimed, and let out a high squeak as the sleigh took off.  
Jack laughed at her alarm; he never got sick of the sleigh. He winked slyly at Tooth, who giggled. Summer glared at them. "I don't know what you're planning," she said, gripping her seat tightly with both hands, "But whatever it is, I'm not a part of it!"  
"What on earth could I be planning, Summer?" Jack asked innocently. "I've never been the mischievous type, you know me."

He laughed again when Summer shook her head and slid off the seat, flattening herself into the bottom of the sleigh.  
As they flew, the weather grew warmer and the air thicker with humidity. The cold layer of cloud gave way to thick humid clumps that revealed glimpses of the landscape below. Summer mustered the courage to look over the edge of the sleigh and saw great expanses of deep green. They were flying over thick tropical jungle.  
"We are close," North called from the front. "Hold on!"  
The sleigh began its descent through the clouds. Jack reached out a hand and touched the water vapour, freezing part of it instantly into a curious, lumpy ball of ice. He held it out to Summer. "Check it out," he said. "You could lick it too, the water vapour's pure."  
Summer smiled. "Cool, but you can keep it, thanks," she said. Jack shrugged and liquefied the ice again, returning it to vapour.  
Summer gasped as the sleigh slipped under the cloud cover, revealing the bright landscape below in all its glory. The jungle no longer consisted of mere glimpses, but great wide expanses of emerald stretching into the horizon. Jewel-coloured birds flitted through the tops of the glorious green, the rich colour only broken by snaking lengths of greyish river. The tops of the mountains had fewer trees, and instead were furred in rich grasses that made the hills look like velvet. The sight was glorious.

The hot sun on the back of her neck, heating her hair so it felt like it was on fire, and the bright colours below her made a lump of emotion rise in Summer's throat. Part of her was full of a bright joy that she hadn't felt in years, the sheer emotion sending shivers of energy through her body, and she felt more alive than she had in years. She suddenly felt cramped in the sleigh, wanting to sprint through those green hills and never stop running through the rich tropical colours, let the hot air fill her lungs and the long grasses sting her legs.  
The other part was filled with a deep melancholy nostalgia, every fibre in her being aching for the old home she'd left so long ago. Tears pricked at her eyes as the memories became sharper against the strikingly similar environment below. She'd thought she'd forgotten what it was like to run through the great tropical trees, hoping that if she ran fast enough she'd fly.  
She didn't think she could even still run anymore. She glanced at her thin, shapeless legs. They used to be so strong when she was a child; thin and wiry, but muscled and powerful. She had always been running. Now, her calves and thighs had wasted into flesh, their curves dissolved so her legs were straight-up-and-down, like noodles. Her arms were the same; her body was slim, but shapeless. She looked like a rag doll made of white fabric. Pale, nondescript. What had happened to her?  
The details of the great trees below grew sharper and bigger as the sleigh descended, branches and leaves rising up, becoming distinct where before there had been a blur of green.  
"Summer, look!" Jack pointed ahead. Summer lifted her head to look up to where the sleigh was heading, and her jaw dropped.  
The Tooth Palace was beautiful. Great spiralling pink and golden columns hung weightless in the air, light flashing off the shining marble creations. The sleigh ducked below the canopy of the trees, and Summer saw that the spires above the trees were only the tip of the iceberg – below the canopy, the incredible works of architecture nestled among the trees, twisting among the branches, one with the forest. It was an incredible sight.  
The sleigh finally alighted on the ground, and Summer jumped out, filled with a burning energy that she hadn't thought she could experience again.  
"You're cheerful," Jack noted as Summer looked around the forest in awe. Summer ignored him and turned to Tooth. "You have to show me the whole Palace!" she exclaimed. "I want to see everything. It's beautiful!"  
Tooth smiled, winking smugly at Jack, who rolled his eyes. "_I bet she's a faaairy girl,_" she whispered, prompting a wry smirk from the spirit.  
At that moment, a loud humming filled the air. Within seconds, the clearing had been ambushed by tiny, iridescent green creatures. The swarm immediately crowded around Jack, the air punctuated by tiny high-pitched squeals and chirrups. Summer stared as a passing mini-fairy slowed to investigate her. Her jaw dropped and she stared wide-eyed into the round pink eyes of the tiny creature, which cooed and patted her cheek curiously. A few more broke away from the horde crowding around Jack to scrutinise the newcomer, tiny hands lifting strands of hair and touching her arms and face. One hung off the tassels of her scarf, whooping shrilly. "They're not birds," she gasped. "They're fairies!"  
"Fairies with no sense of personal space!" Jack yelled from the swarm of excited creatures. "Bah! Ladies, one at a time, please!" Tooth giggled. "They're always excited to see you," she said giddily, overcome by the emotions of her smaller counterparts. "They simply adore you, Jack."  
"I never guessed," Jack said. "There I was thinking that all the squealing and kissing was an attack strategy."  
Summer giggled. "They're so cute," she murmured, waggling her fingers in front of one. It hovered forward to try to catch them. Summer chuckled at the little game. Another fairy slid down her smooth black fringe, and Summer squealed as the little creature bumped over her face. "They're curious little things!"  
The majority of the fairies, however, hung back. Many of them glanced up nervously at Tooth. They all had vivid memories of being imprisoned by Pitch, and no doubt the less brave fairies were intimidated by Summer's resemblance to the dark spirit.  
Baby Tooth, not wanting to be left out, zoomed forward to inspect the stranger. Summer held her hand out and Baby Tooth settled in it comfortably. She looked back and winked at the other fairies, full of bravado – _I'M not afraid of the scary female Pitch_. Summer giggled and smoothed the feathers on her head down gently. Baby Tooth purred delightedly.  
Seeing that the stranger was harmless, more fairies began to drift over, fear overcome by curiosity. Soon, Summer was surrounded by inquisitive, chirruping little creatures, all touching and poking and tugging and patting. Summer giggled, shivering at the touch of the little hands. "They're ticklish!" she exclaimed.  
"Okay girls, settle down," Tooth said, grinning. "Leave her be."  
The fairies drifted away to hover close to Tooth and Jack again, but curious eyes still remained fixed on Summer.  
"Do we need to unpack or anything?" Summer asked tentatively.  
"Is under control; I can handle it," North said. "Usual quarters, Tooth?"  
"Of course, you each still have your own rooms," Tooth said. "And I'll show your room to you later, Summer. Did you want to look at the Palace?"  
"Yes please!" Summer exclaimed. Tooth smiled and took her hand, leading her into the Palace. Jack, of course, hovered closely behind the pair despite having visited the Palace numerous times. The swarm of fairies fluttered hot at his heels.  
North stroked his beard curiously as the group made their way into the Palace. Sandy raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Is most interesting, Sandy," North mused. "She looks better already."  
Sandy nodded, pulling a great wide smile in imitation of Summer.  
"Yes, her mood is much improved. The mini-fairies certainly made impression on her. But not just that Sandy. She appears already healthier." North tapped his cheek. "Her skin is now glowing and pink, no longer sallow as if dead. And her eyes are clearer than I've ever seen them, bright and wide. Did you know they were such delightful shade of green? With nice hints of blue. When she first arrived, they seemed grey, like stormclouds."  
Sandy nodded thoughtfully. Barely an hour in the warmer weather, and Summer's condition was rapidly improving. Sandy's eyes alighted on something in the sleigh and his eyes widened. He tapped North's sleeve.  
North looked around, and saw what Sandy was indicating towards. He broke out in a wide smile and let out a great booming laugh. "See how I told you?" he exclaimed triumphantly. "Our strange adult girl is improving faster than we can keep up with." He reached into the sleigh, and with a cheerful flourish, lifted Summer's abandoned cane out of the sleigh. "Do you think she even realised she forgot this?"  
Sandy shook his head smugly. Unbeknownst to the girl, she'd run off without it.

At that moment, a hole opened in the ground by their feet and Bunnymund sprang out. "Anything I miss?" he asked, bewildered by Sandy and North's delighted expressions, and the absence of the others in the sleigh.  
"Nothing at all," North said gleefully. "In fact, Bunny, you are just in time!"  
"Just in time for what?" Bunny asked doubtfully.  
"Just in time to help carry belongings into respective quarters!" North said merrily, picking up a pile of bags and dumping them unceremoniously into the surprised Bunnymund's arms.  
"What!" Bunnymund sputtered. "I ain't one of ya damn yetis, North!"  
"No, but these _your_ belongings," North pointed out. Bunnymund's ears flattened in defeat. "Alright, alright," he grumbled. "Where am I sleeping this time? I better not be in the damn tower again. Bloody heights."

* * *

Later, Tooth, Jack and Summer found the others occupying North's room in the living area of the Palace. The living area was a relatively small section of the Palace, consisting of circular living quarters that branched off to several round bedrooms with spectacular large windows with ornate wooden shutters cut in elaborate designs rather than glass, allowing the hot tropical wind to breeze through each room.

"Hey, guys!" Tooth said as the trio passed through the living area. "Sorry for making you wait. We'll be finished soon, I'm just going to show Summer her room then we'll be done."  
"These are so cool!" Summer cried, running straight into the bedroom. "They're so open, and the view!"  
"I'm glad _someone_ appreciates fine architecture," Tooth said, winking at Jack. "I suppose it takes an artist's eye to appreciate such beauty."  
"Pfft," Jack said. "You and I simply have clashing tastes when it comes to art. It's not my fault you're into all this nancy-pantsy fancy stuff!"  
Summer whooped and flung herself onto the large round bed. "It's so bouncy!" she exclaimed. "Tooth, your Palace is simply the best!"  
She suddenly blushed at her outburst. "I'm sorry, I should have asked before jumping," she said meekly. Tooth laughed. "Summer, it's your room," she said. "Treat it like yours!"  
"Did _Summer the adult_ just _jump on a bed?_" Jack exclaimed. "I am lost for words! Why, I – I'd better join in!" He grinned mischievously, and jumped on the bed beside her. He whooped and shouted like a child as he bounded around on the springy mattress, Summer laughing as she bounced along from the impact. Tooth lost her composure and dissolved into giggles at the sight.

North, Sandy, and Bunnymund poked their heads into the room, jaws dropped in disbelief.  
"She is just like child," North finally said. "I think I am beginning to see what Manny saw all along."

* * *

That night, as the other Guardians slept in their rooms and Sandy began his night of work, he remembered what Summer had said about not being able to dream. _Surely I could fix that if I made some extra effort,_ he mused.

It was bizarre. Sandy had a mental map of every child on the planet, so how could he have missed this one? He was always sure of the ability of his dreamsand, yet it hadn't been able to reach this child. Even when the child as an adult had been removed from Pitch's influence, she hadn't shown up on his radar the night before. Perhaps that was because she was an adult; adults were harder to weave for, since their minds were so occupied with everyday musings to do with work, chores, responsibilities. Their minds were a thick fog of worry and responsibility, hard to navigate and manipulate into sweet dreams of possibility, not like the clear, open minds of children. Adults were restricted by their self-imposed boundaries and lack of imagination, but he could sometimes reach them.  
Tonight, he decided to make a special attempt to reach Summer's mind. He lowered his cloud to Summer's window.  
Summer was fast asleep in the round bed that had occupied her room, noodly legs kicked out over the sheets. The sheets were still rumpled and unkempt from her and Jack's antics that afternoon, and she slept soundly with the contented happiness of someone who had not a care in the world. He was sure she hadn't looked like that at all in the time she'd been with them. The warm breeze wafted through the room, gently fluttering stray strands of dark hair. Even in the darkness, Sandy could spy the coppery-blonde roots pushing through her scalp, wispy strands of gold drifting around her face. When was the last time she'd dyed her hair?  
He reached out a golden tendril towards the girl, coiling through the elaborate shutter, snaking towards her head. The tendril juddered to a halt by her ear. Sandy gritted his teeth – the girl's mind was full of strange, confused thoughts. They twisted and jumbled about each other like storm clouds. Dark thoughts and feelings seemed to crash against tentative desires, happy thoughts and emotions. It was as if she had two elements fighting for dominance within her – light and dark. Sandy hoped that light would take over within the girl.  
He isolated a memory of a hug from a smiling woman who shared Summer's eyes, a pretty woman with golden skin and coppery hair that tumbled about her shoulders. The memory was full of warmth and comfort, brought by the feeling of safety only a parent's embrace could bring. He smiled and made dreamsand dance in the warm memory's image.

Summer smiled faintly. For the first time in her life, she dreamed.

* * *

Author's Note:  
Mannnn writing about Summer's reaction to the jungle made me all nostalgic ;_;  
Sorry for slowing down! I've been aiming for daily updates, but the past few days have been hectic. The next few days should be fairly quiet though, so we'll see how it goes :P  
Thank you so much for reading! If you got this far, then I hope you're enjoying the story :D I think we're about at the halfway point - I think. We're either there, or a little way past it. We'll see xD It's nice to have a plan, it's the first time I've written a story by using actual notes and plans and such, and it's definitely helped keep me on track!  
Thank you all so much, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, the five Guardians were greeted at the table in Tooth's living area by a cheerful Summer, who almost literally bounced out of her room.  
It was a bright morning, the air still cool and crisp from the night before. The Guardians were arranged around a large table piled with various (sugarfree) breakfast treats – tropical fruit, muesli with milk, various types of fresh juice, toast set alongside a bowl of mashed avocado, even a pot of Thai noodles and a plate of dumplings; Tooth's tastes were distinctly Asian. The Guardians looked up from their food to smile bewilderedly at the girl.  
"Morning!" Summer said, settling at the table between Sandy and Tooth.  
"Morning, Summer," Tooth said. She held out a large bowl full of diced tropical fruit. "Fruit salad?"  
"Yes, please!" Summer dug her spoon into the bowl, tipping it into the smaller bowl in front of her. "Yum, paw-paw!"  
Raised eyebrows were exchanged all around the table while Summer was occupied with the fruit. Seeing her so cheerful was a first.  
Sandy tapped her arm once she'd finished with the bowl of fruit salad. He created his image of a sleeping child next to a question mark again. Summer smiled.  
"I slept very well last night, thank you," she said. "I had the first good dream I've ever had! It was wonderful. Now I finally know what everyone's making a fuss about."  
Sandy puffed up his chest proudly and pointed to himself.  
"That was you?" Summer asked. "You made that dream for me?"  
Sandy nodded bashfully. Summer squealed delightedly and pulled the little golden man into a hug. "Thank you, Sandy! It was amazing, thank you so much!"  
"That's great!" Tooth said. "Well done, Sandy."  
"I thought you didn't do dreams for adults?" Jack asked. Sandy gave him a funny look – _Where did you get that idea? _  
"I just figured you only made dreams for kids," Jack said. Sandy shrugged, pointing him – _You're technically adult and you get dreams, don't you? Where do you think they come from? The Easter Bunny?_  
"Hey!" Bunnymund said. Sandy smirked. Bunnymund glared at him. "It's all well and good if she's having nice dreams," he said gruffly, "But that's not going to stop Pitch for good. If she doesn't have any way to protect herself, it will be just as easy for him to turn them into nightmares again. She's got to be physically strong as well as mentally."  
"And how do you propose we go around that task?" North asked. Bunnymund grinned. "She could learn some martial arts with me," he suggested. "How does that sound, Summer? After all, I'm a master of Tai Chi and ancient Pooka warrior arts. If anyone can get your skinny little arms throwing some decent left hooks, it's me!" He flexed his biceps as if to demonstrate.  
Summer giggled nervously. "I don't know, Bunnymund," she said. "I'm not exactly an athletic type, as you can probably see. Heck, I need to walk with a cane – I'm in no shape to be leaping around and hitting people."  
"First of all, Pooka warrior arts are focused on defensive fighting, rather than offensive," Bunnymund said, "And second... where's your cane, Summer?"  
Summer's eyes widened and she looked around. Her jaw dropped and she looked back at Bunnymund, who smiled triumphantly. She'd completely forgotten her cane; it was still propped up by her bed back in the bedroom Tooth had given her.  
"You're a hell of a lot stronger than you're giving yourself credit for, Summer," Bunnymund pointed out. "You've improved drastically in the less-than-twenty-four hours we've been here, you're practically a different kid altogether. I think you're ready to have a crack at this. So have a little faith in yourself and have a go, eh? You won't know your limits until you test them."  
Summer stared at him, still agape with surprise. She sighed and nodded. "Okay," she said. "I'll have a go. But don't push me too hard, okay? I haven't done anything very physical in years, I'm so out of shape it's not funny."  
"No problem," Bunny reassured her. "I'll meet you outside the front of the Palace after breakfast, alright?"  
Summer nodded, returning to her fruit salad. She still appeared confused, puzzled. _She really did forget her cane,_ Tooth thought. _She forgot all about it until now. That's pretty amazing, considering back in the North Pole she could barely walk without it.  
What else can she now do that she couldn't do before?_

* * *

Later, Summer met Bunnymund outside of the Tooth Palace. She'd changed into black gym shorts, sneakers, and a black t-shirt with a print of angel wings emblazoned on the front. She still wore her long scarf, and this time she'd brought her cane.  
Bunnymund waited with arms akimbo, practice punching pads and other equipment by his feet. He raised his eyebrows at the scarf.  
Summer shrugged, pulling it off and setting it down beside her cane. "It still feels a little chilly, the mornings here are cool."  
Cool? The sun was high in the sky and the air was thick with tropical humidity. Heat bore down on them even through the thick forest canopy above Bunnymund was already sweating under his fur; it was anything but 'cool'. Where the hell had this girl lived, the sun?  
"Please go easy," Summer said, looking nervous. "I wasn't kidding when I said I was unfit."  
"It's alright, kid, I wasn't planning to," Bunnymund said. "We're gonna start off small, and work our way up to more difficult exercises gradually. I'm not throwing you in the deep end, don't worry about that."  
He stood in a relaxed standing position, one foot in front of the other. "This is pretty much the easiest thing you can do," he said. "It's called 'pouring', it's a very simple Tai Chi move. You just pour your weight from one foot," Bunnymund demonstrated by shifting his weight to the front foot, "And then pour to the other." He shifted backwards, the movement fluid and controlled.  
Summer imitated the position, her movements initially shaky as she struggled to keep balanced. After a few repetitions, however, her action began to match the easy fluidity of Bunnymund's.  
"Alright, now we're gonna use that in a pretty typical Tai Chi move," Bunnymund said. "Follow my lead."  
He stood straight with his feet together, then shifted one foot to the side, pouring his weight across both feet. Then he raised his arms slowly to chest level, then smoothly brought them down in a circular motion. He continued this circular motion a few times, until Summer had the hang of it.  
"Alright, now something that requires a little more balance," Bunnymund said. He shifted his weight to one foot, then slowly brought his other leg up, the knee being the highest point as his foot trailed against his leg, like a stork. He set the foot back down and centered his weight. He bent his knees gently and created the same circular motion they'd practised before, then his hands slowly swung to the side, his weight shifting.  
Bunnymund swayed across to the other side, bringing his arms up to about chin level, then drew them back across his chest to the other side. This swaying movement continued a few times.  
Summer was very shaky at first, wobbling madly as she tried to bring her knee up to her chest like Bunnymund. Her movements were jerky and unco-ordinated. But Bunnymund was patient, and they continued the slow actions until Summer began to sway almost as fluidly as he could.

The Tai Chi continued for an hour, Bunnymund slowly but firmly increasing the difficulty of each move. Soon, Summer's movements matched his own in perfect time, the odd pair swaying across the sparse grass under the forest canopy. Several mini-fairies slowed as they flew to watch the spectacle.

Soon, the pair stopped for a break. Bunnymund held out a bottle of water to Summer, who gulped greedily. She hadn't realised she'd been sweating so much – she hadn't felt like she'd been doing much by simply imitating Bunnymund's movements, but the burning in her muscles and chest and clammy skin told otherwise. It had been a long time since she'd felt her blood pounding like that. It felt good.

"Now we're gonna move up to some more intensive exercises," Bunnymund said. "Did you ever do Kung Fu?"  
"Not really," Summer said. She'd had a couple of friends at school who regularly did Kung Fu, so she'd heard about it, but she'd never mustered the courage to attend classes with them.  
"Well, we're gonna do a few basic Kung Fu moves now. We'll start off with the main five stances, these are the basic stances that all Kung-Fu moves are based on. They're all named after animals, by the way."  
Bunnymund assumed a pose where his legs were splayed apart, bent at the knees, one foot in front of the other. He held one hand close to his stomach and the other up, about a foot away from and level with his face. He held the hand in a claw.  
"This one's called Tiger," he said. "A lot of moves are based on this stance, both offensive and defensive. The main idea of Kung Fu is keeping yourself grounded and balanced, so if someone tried to push you over you wouldn't move. Keeping your centre of gravity close to the ground is important if you want to gain the upper hand on someone if they attack you. Pooka warrior arts share this idea."  
He showed her the other stances, and their Pooka equivalents, teaching her how to practice them properly. "The stance is the foundation of the different moves, so if you want good moves, you've got to have a perfect stance," he said.  
Then they moved onto proper moves, Bunnymund teaching her various punches, kicks and jumps. They practiced each move incessantly, Bunnymund refusing to move onto more difficult moves until he was satisfied that Summer had already mastered all of the other moves.  
An hour later, the pair were sparring lightly, Summer on the offensive while Bunnymund lightly deflected her blows. "You're doing well!" he said. "Your aim is getting better, you're not flailing around wildly anymore."  
They stopped for another break. Summer tried not to drink too much water, for fear of giving herself a stitch, but again she was surprised by her exertion. Bunnymund looked pleased.  
"You're improving really fast," he said. "I don't know what it is with this weather, but you're tons better than I initially expected. You're even beginning to grow a few muscles." He prodded Summer's arm with a grin, indicating a tiny bicep. "I think you're ready to move on to something trickier now."  
"Like what?"  
"Like this!" Bunnymund took a flying leap at a tree and kicked it with his powerful hind legs. The tree juddered from the impact, leaves showering down. A small congregation of off-duty fairies tumbled out of the branches, giggling, whooping and cheering. Summer hadn't even noticed the little creatures were spectating from the trees.  
Bunnymund bowed, and turned to Summer.  
Summer giggled. "Um, no," she said. "I'm not nearly that strong, Bunnymund. I'm already doing stuff I never thought I'd be able to do, but flying into trees is just way out of my ability."  
"C'mon, kid, you won't know if you don't try," Bunnymund said. "It looks pretty impressive, but it's not that hard."  
He broke down the move in steps. "First, you run at the tree, like so. You need a decent run-up to gain the momentum you need, especially a little thing like you. So you'd probably best start running from here." Bunnymund drew a line in the dirt with his toe about fifteen metres from the tree.  
"And you'd want to kick off about here," he said, drawing another line a metre away from the tree. "It's like long-jump, really. You make the jump, and you just have to watch that you draw your legs right up in front of you. You want to hit the tree with your feet."  
He took Summer to the first line, and they practiced the speed that Summer needed to get to so she could hit the tree properly. Then Bunnymund helped her practice her leaps. Summer found it difficult to bring her legs up high enough – the action required a lot of mid-body strength that she didn't have. But she began to get better at it, and they repeated the action until Bunnymund was satisfied that she was kicking her legs up high enough.  
"Now you've got to be careful to bend your knees as you impact the tree," Bunnymund said. "You're not locking your legs when you jump, which is good – I'd have to re-teach you how to kick. Because if you hit the tree with your knees locked, the impact will hurt. A lot. And you'll hurt your knees, which I don't think you want to do. So always keep your knees bent, yeah?"  
Summer nodded. Bunnymund dusted his hands. "Now, to practice landing! Landing is the most difficult, because you've got to swing your legs all the way down so you don't land on your butt. Again, you want to keep your knees bent." They practiced the landing by climbing up the tree – they pair hung off two low branches, let go, and attempted to land upright. Summer landed flat on her butt the first few times, but it didn't take long for her to start getting her feet on the ground first.

"I think you're about ready to have a go," he said. "Don't worry if you mess it up first time round, everyone does that. We'll just keep practicing until you nail it."  
Summer stood at the first line. Her heart began to pound; suddenly, she was nervous. She didn't know why. She just really didn't want to mess up, even though Bunnymund had said it would be okay.  
She started running. The nerves made her limbs feel like lead. She managed to jump off at the mark, but her heavy legs wouldn't lift high enough. They scraped pathetically against the bark, and Summer had the wind knocked out of her as she landed flat on her ass.

The little birds in the trees applauded appreciatively. "Good try!" Bunnymund exclaimed, helping her up. "That wasn't bad for a first-timer! Just get your legs a bit higher and you'll be set! Nice technique, you've nailed it pretty well."  
Summer blinked. "But I screwed it up completely."  
"Nah, you didn't. You actually did really well – you got up to the right speed, and jumped at the right point. You jumped a decent height too; all you needed was to get your legs a bit higher, which just takes practice. Have another go."  
Summer nodded, feeling giddy. The nerves in her belly had settled, and she felt much more confident.  
It took her another few tries, but eventually she nailed it. She relished the feeling of seeming to fly through the air, her feet landing firmly and solidly against the bark with a juddering thud that sent shockwaves through her body. She swung her legs down and they hit the soft earth, forming a crouch. She managed to keep her weight forward, so she didn't fall backwards on her butt like she had the past few times.  
High-pitched cheering and applause erupted in the branches above her. She hadn't hit the tree hard enough to shake it like Bunnymund had, but she'd hit it pretty solidly – and landed on her feet this time. She couldn't help it; she grinned.  
"Great job!" Bunnymund said, pulling her up. "You nailed that really quickly, well done! I knew you could do it!" A genuine grin of pride was plastered all over his face. Summer felt flushed with joy – she'd done it!  
She hadn't thought she could even run, let alone spar with a giant rabbit, let alone attack trees with flying kicks. She was astonished.  
"I can't believe I did all that," she exclaimed as Bunnymund handed her the water bottle.  
"Believe it, kiddo," Bunnymund said. "All you needed was to believe in yourself a little. That's all it takes sometimes. A little bit of faith in yourself, and look – you were able to push yourself far beyond what you thought you could do. A little self-belief can go a hell of a long way."  
Summer nodded thoughtfully, tapping the water bottle against her chin. "I'd like to be able to try some of the harder techniques sometime," she said. "If you're willing to teach me of course. I hope I'll be able to manage those too. Hopefully that and Sandy's dreams will help me stay strong against Pitch."  
Bunnymund beamed, a great smile spreading over his face. He recognised the look in Summer's eyes. It was hope – tentative, and wavering, but unmistakeable.  
He'd done it. He'd brought hope back to the girl before him, and in her eyes it shone gloriously.

* * *

Author's Note:  
This chapter was tricky because I'm not good with any martial arts - I did kung-fu for a little while several years ago, but that was basic and I'm very rusty now. And I haven't done any Tai Chi. I hope I wrote about it alright, though!  
I don't know exactly where Tooth's Palace is set, I haven't read the books and all the websites aren't more specific than "Southeast Asia". I read that the design of the Tooth Palace in the film was inspired by Thai architecture though, so it seemed appropriate that Tooth would include Thai food in the choice of breakfast foods. I'm also assuming that the Palace is located in a fairly tropical area of Asia, like Thailand or Indonesia. That actually makes it easier for me to describe the weather/climate, as I lived in a tropical area for a long time.  
And yeah, sorry for rambling xD enjoy!


	9. Chapter 9

Jack was playing with a small group of off-duty fairies in the Palace when Summer whirled past him. He barely recognised the panting, sweaty, flushed, beaming face before she was running up spiral staircases to the tower. "Hi, Jack!" floated down to him as she ran.  
She was followed by Bunnymund, whose pace was more relaxed. "What's with her?" Jack asked as Bunnymund passed.  
"We had a decent training session today," he said. "I think she got a lot out of it."  
"Sure looks like it. I thought she wasn't able to run?"  
"So did she. Looks like she proved herself wrong. All it took was a little _hope_, I think." Bunnymund winked, and Jack's eyes widened in understanding. "Your turn, mate," Bunnymund said. "Your element's the last, by the looks of things; funny, it's not like you to come trailing behind!"  
Jack stuck his tongue out, and Bunnymund laughed. "You better get cracking, mate," he said, turning to walk up the stairs.

Jack turned back to the fairies, puzzled. So Summer's mind had been opened to every element of childhood except his. How had the other Guardians succeeded, but not him? What could he be doing wrong?  
Fun was his game; if anyone knew how to get someone to have fun, it was him. In fact, he could get anyone to have fun. Except this girl. Why was that?

He stamped his staff in frustration, sending out showers of frost everywhere. The fairies giggled in surprise. Heck, it didn't take much to entertain them; why was it so hard to achieve the same with Summer?  
Tooth floated by, and noticed his petulant expression. She smiled and hovered over. "What's the matter, Jack?" she asked. "You don't look like yourself."  
"It's Summer," he said. "Apparently Bunny just got her to discover hope. Which means that she's rediscovered every element of childhood except fun – which is mine. And I've been trying so hard ever since we first found her! What is everyone else doing that I'm not? What am I doing wrong?" He perched atop his staff and crossed his arms over his knees. "Are my powers failing or something?"  
Tooth smiled and placed a hand on his arm. "I don't think it's like that," she said. "Maybe you just need to adjust your ideas a little?"  
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, a frown appearing on his face.  
"Well, your idea of fun usually involves the cold and snow," Tooth said gently. "But Summer hates the cold. Maybe you need to try something different."  
"Are you telling me how to do my job?" Jack demanded, shoving Tooth's hand away. Tooth's eyes widened in surprise. "What makes you think you know better about doing my job than me, huh?"  
Tooth's mouth hardened into a thin line. "I'm just trying to help, Jack!" she said. "I'm not trying to -"  
"Yeah, because you know all about fun, don't you?" Jack yelled. "Because memories and crap is _so_ much more important than fun! Well guess what, it isn't! Memories aren't a big deal, so don't try to tell me it's more important than fun, 'cause it's not!"

Tooth's jaw dropped, and she felt an icy sensation drop in her stomach. Fury made every feather on her body fluff up, and her eyes narrowed.  
"So that's what you think, then?" she snapped. "Memories aren't important, then? You really think so little of them? Well clearly you don't need them! If that's the way you feel, then _I wish I never gave yours back!_"  
Jack's eyes narrowed, cold and icy. Then in a whirl of freezing blizzard air, he was gone. _Probably to sulk,_ Tooth thought. She felt shaky.  
_Jack just yelled at me. He told me to stop telling him how to do his job, he said memories weren't important and he yelled at me. He looked furious with me. Could he hate me? _

Her heart pounded and she felt sick. A tight lump rose in her throat, too big to breathe past. She swallowed painfully. The group of fairies who'd been playing with Jack stared at her, eyes wide with concern and confusion.

"I-it's alright, girls," Tooth said. Her voice came out high and wobbly. Every word was an effort – it was all she could do not to cry. "Just.. get back to work. Okay?" She heard her voice end on a hysterical note. The little fairies looked at each other worriedly, before drifting away to continue working.  
Tooth heard a sob escape and clapped a hand over her mouth._ I can't cry here, not now._  
She flew through the palace as fast as she could, and when she reached her own quarters, she would have sighed in relief if the lump in her throat had allowed her. Instead, great wracking sobs forced their way out of her body, and tears spilled down her cheeks. She curled up on the floor and cried.

Later, she heard the door open. She managed to swallow the next sob. Who was it? Was it Jack? She didn't dare look.  
"Tooth? Are you okay?"  
No, it was Summer.

Bloody Summer. Tooth clenched her fists.  
A soft hand landed on her shoulder. "Tooth, what is it? Do you want to talk?"  
Tooth shrugged it off roughly. "Go away, Summer."  
"Oh – okay, I just... I could hear..."  
"Just bloody go away, Summer! I don't want to talk!" Tooth drew herself up and shot a glare at Summer. The girl's eyes were wide, shocked. "Al- alright, I'm leaving!"  
"It's all your bloody fault!" Tooth shrieked suddenly. The words started flying from her mouth, unbidden. "If not for you – if you'd never shown up, this would never have happened! It's all your fault!"  
The girl's eyes went shiny, and she fled the room. The door slammed. Tooth curled back up tightly, shaking with anger. _I told Jack it was a bad idea... I always knew it was a bad idea. But he didn't listen. And she came. And now Jack hates me. I knew we shouldn't have brought her, but nobody listened._

She lay curled for what seemed like hours. She tried not to think, but thoughts floated across her mind. Sometimes she couldn't shoot them down fast enough.  
_Should I have yelled at Summer?_

_What if Summer hates me too now?  
Maybe it would have been nice to have someone to talk to..._

Tooth buried her face in her arms and groaned. Shame leeched into her stomach, making her feel sick. _I was angry at Jack and I took it out on her._  
The thought of Jack created a sensation in her chest that was oddly similar to being punched. Her body felt empty. She found a pillow, stuffing it hard against her belly, trying to fill the emptiness.  
_I just wanted to help. Why did he yell at me? I shouldn't have said anything. Now it's all ruined. I ruined it._

* * *

Summer curled up in a corner of the room Tooth had given her, hating herself, hating everything. She'd lain on the bed at first, before remembering Tooth had given it to her. Wracked with guilt, she'd looked around for something not Tooth, but that was impossible – everything was Tooth. And touching anything belonging to Tooth only made her feel worse, more guilty. In the end she'd forced herself into a small corner of the room, staring into her arms as tears rolled down her cheeks.  
_I ruin everything._

_Everyone was so nice to me, but... I made it all about me. Now I've ruined things._

_It started off so good, too. Today was such a great day. But then it all went horribly downhill..._  
She stared at her thin arms, her thin legs. Weak. She couldn't do anything without help. Her hands began to shake. She closed them tightly around her cane.  
_I can't even do anything without this thing._  
Anger bubbled up inside her, hot and fierce. Her body shook with the effort to contain it. A strangled cry fled her throat and she flung the cane at the wall. Seeing it bounce off didn't help. She crawled over, picked it up and slammed it into the floor, over and over. She held it in both hands and kicked the middle. The metal warped, her foot throbbed with pain.

_Weak, weak, weak. _

* * *

Night was falling over the forest. Jack sat huddled on a high tree branch, close to the top of the canopy. Under the thick canopy, the darkness seemed to bring the jungle to life. The air hummed with the sound of insects, small bright dots flitted across the air as the glowing night creatures began their daily lives.  
And Jack sulked.  
His hands were jammed hard into the pockets of his sweatshirt, the hood pulled low over his head. He felt hurt and angry, but he would not cry.  
As darkness blanketed the forest, Jack looked around. Still, nobody had come looking for him. He knew it was petty, but a fresh stab of hurt pounded in his chest. Didn't they care enough to want to find him?  
He was so angry, but he was beginning to be unsure why. The events of the day blurred into his mind, and all he remembered was the sick feeling of uselessness, followed by Tooth's wide, hurt eyes.

A new feeling throbbed in his belly. An empty feeling. Jack was surprised by this one.  
_Guilt. Why am I feeling guilty?_  
He got annoyed._ I shouldn't be the one feeling guilty! Tooth started it! She insulted me first! There she was, acting like she knew how to do my job, and... she was only trying to help._

Jack shifted uncomfortably.  
_I overreacted. I didn't let her explain herself._

_But couldn't she see I was already upset?_

_No. I was doing what I always do. Playing._

_Even though I felt awful after what Bunny said. Didn't she see that? Didn't she see how that upset me?  
No... she was working. _

Tooth's wide eyes flashed through his head again. She'd looked so surprised, hurt.

_I'm guilty because I overreacted and lost it on her. I was upset, but I shouldn't have said those things... now I've upset her too._

Guilt gnawed at his stomach. _I always figured I'd be the guy to comfort her if anyone hurt her... but I ended up being the one who hurt her._

_I messed things up._

_It's funny, 'cause I was trying so hard, too. I was hoping she'd eventually see how much I like her. But I screwed that up big-time, she probably thinks I hate her.  
I'd hate me too.  
So I feel miserable and useless because the one person I need to get to have fun, I can't. Everyone else succeeded except me, and I'm wondering why I'm even a Guardian if I can't even do my job.  
And now I feel angry and guilty because I lost my temper at Tooth and upset her.  
And now I feel like an idiot because I'm the one who's got to go back and apologise._

_But I don't want to! I'll feel so stupid._  
Jack groaned and buried his face in his arms. _Do I go back and apologise, or do I stay here and retain some shred of dignity?_

He shuffled back against the tree. _I'll stay out here. Wait for someone to find me... hopefully Tooth. Then I'll apologise. I'm not ready to go back yet._

At that moment, the humming of life in the forest went silent.  
Jack lifted his head and looked around warily. It was dark. Very dark. Too dark for this time of the evening; the sun should still have been setting.  
The silence was eerie; one doesn't realise how much noise there is in the forest until it is silent. Silence in a forest is strange, unnatural; it's like waking up to find out your vision has changed to black-and-white. It feels wrong, incomplete.  
Jack knew something was wrong.  
He bounded up, grabbing his staff and leaping off the branch. His head pushed through the canopy, flimsy branches and twigs snapping and catching in his hair. He shook out the majority of it and looked up to the moon.  
There was no moon.  
Instead, the moon was obscured by cloud; dark, ominous, and unnaturally thick.  
He knew there was often cloud cover at night here; the humidity caused great bands of cloud to move in over the evening, creating spectacular sunsets and dark nights. But this was different. Usually a few stars strained through the darkness, and the moon always filtered through, its appearance soft and blurry.  
But now, the moon was completely hidden. No light shone through at all.  
This wasn't any ordinary cloud.

He peered closer, and realised that there were lights – thousands upon thousands of tiny, sickly yellow glowing dots. All in pairs. Jack's eyes widened in horror.

Fearlings. Thousands and thousands of nightmares, all undulating together in one great, terrible cloud.  
How could this be? They'd defeated Pitch long ago! There was no way he could have recreated his army of nightmares, unless...  
_Summer.  
How many nightmares had she suffered?  
Enough to create a small army of Fearlings?_  
Panic rose up in Jack's throat. He knew where they were headed. His fingers felt numb as he gripped his staff and flew off towards the Palace. He needed to get there before they did.  
All of his doubts and worries about apologising to Tooth fled his mind, replaced by only one thought -  
_I need to warn Tooth._

* * *

Author's Note:  
Ooh, drama! I'm not very good with writing conflict, I hope I didn't write that too badly ^^; I made Jack look very immature, haha. I always saw him as being quite a childish character, though, so I hope nobody's too unhappy with the way I wrote him there.  
Also, I'd say we've got about two more chapters to go! Not long now! D:


	10. Chapter 10

Jack crashed to a stop on the marble bottom floor of the palace – he'd jettisoned through the door so fast he hadn't had time to slow his momentum. A group of fairies cried out in surprise and gathered round as Jack pulled himself off the floor.  
He looked up to see Bunnymund and North. A sick feeling of shame bubbled in his stomach; they looked less than impressed.  
"So you thought you'd slink back in after what you said to Tooth, eh?" Bunnymund growled. "You've got a lot of nerve coming back round here, mate.."  
"I need to see Tooth!" Jack blurted out.  
"Hopefully to apologise," North said sternly. "She's quite upset, Jack."  
"There's no time!" Jack cried out. _"Fearlings!"_  
The other Guardians looked at each other in confusion, but Jack had no time to answer. The Fearlings had been hot on his heels; they'd arrive at the Palace any moment. Tooth needed to gather her armies and defend her home.  
He flew up the stairs, only to run in to Summer. Her face was grim, and her eyes were oddly red. She stood in front of him, arms crossed. "You're not seriously going to try to talk to her, are you?" she said.  
Jack sidestepped her. "I need to!" he said. "Fearlings!_ Pitch!_"  
He was gone before he could see her turn after him, eyes wide and mouth agape. He burst through the door into Tooth's room.

Tooth was facing the window, but she whipped around to face him, violet eyes icy.  
"Tooth," Jack said, sinking to the floor. Tooth's brows furrowed together. "What do you want?" she asked.  
"Look, I'm sorry," Jack said hurriedly. "I was out of line, I'm sorry. But we can't fight, not now – something's wrong."  
Tooth stared back at him, confused. "Jack, what's going on?"  
"Have you actually looked outside?" Jack asked. Tooth frowned, puzzled, then threw open the latticed wood. She stared at the dark sky. She turned to Jack. "I don't understand."  
"Look!" Jack flew to her side, and cupped her cheek, turning her head to face the horizon. He pointed to where the darkness gathered at the skyline. "Fearlings. It's Pitch. He's back, and he's heading here."  
Tooth turned to gape at him. "That's impossible!" she gasped. "We defeated Pitch -"  
"And then he gave a young girl nightmares until she became an adult. It might have been enough to create a small army."

"But then why would they be coming here? Pitch can't defeat us, we defeated him when his forces were ten times bigger, when we were weak!"  
Jack's eyebrows knitted together. "I don't know," he said. "Perhaps he's trying to defeat us again anyway?"  
Tooth's eyes narrowed in determination. "I'd like to see him try. Jack, you go outside, patrol the perimeter. I'll round up my fairies. We'll need every last off-duty fairy; I might even need to call back some working fairies, I'll summon the ones working the East Asia region.."  
Jack smiled. Tooth was back in business. She looked sternly at him, not noticing his admiring gaze. "Well!" she exclaimed. "Hop to it, we haven't got all night!"  
Jack grinned cheekily and saluted. "Sir yes sir! Checking the perimeter, sir!"  
Tooth smiled, but waved him away. "Cute, but now's not the time for fun and games. Please be serious, Jack."  
He nodded, and floated through the open window. "I'll let you know once they're close."  
"Please do. Good luck, Jack!"

Tooth turned from the window and glided out of her quarters. She reached the main entrance of the Palace, where North and Bunnymund still stood.  
"Tooth!" North boomed. "What happened with Jack? Is he telling truth?"  
"He is," Tooth said. "Pitch and his Nightmares are coming, I saw them myself. They're getting close."  
"What the hell are they doing here?" Bunnymund growled, reaching for a boomerang.  
"We don't know," Tooth said. "Perhaps he's trying to defeat us again; he can't possibly think he can succeed, not after last time, but maybe he's trying anyway."  
"Who's trying what?"  
The trio looked up to see Summer descending the stairs, cane in hand. She wasn't limping anymore. Sandy floated beside her, face grim.  
Tooth bit her lip and flew up to the girl. "I'm sorry about before," she said. "I lost my temper and took it out on you. Nothing's your fault, I was just upset. I'm sorry."  
She took a deep breath. "But we've got bigger problems now. Pitch is coming, and we need to stop him."  
Summer's eyebrows furrowed together. "Pitch? The evil guy? Why's he coming here?"  
"We don't know," Tooth admitted. "But we're not sure we want to find out." She looked at Sandy. "I need you to go outside and protect the building," she said. "Could you do that for me?" Sandy nodded, and whirled away in a flourish of golden sand. Tooth watched him float out of a window.  
She whipped around. "Fairies!" she called in a voice that boomed around the entire palace. It seemed impossible that such a delicate, high voice could reverberate so powerfully. "The Palace needs protecting! Come to me at once!"  
Swarms of mini-fairies seemed to pour from every orifice of the castle; thousands of tiny iridescent creatures appeared to come from nowhere. They hovered around Tooth, every wide pink eye trained on the Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies.  
"Pitch and his Nightmares are back," Tooth declared. "A much smaller army than last time, but don't underestimate their power. I need each and every one of you defending the Palace; not one nightmare must enter the building."  
The mass of fairies collectively nodded. Tooth smiled, then began separating them into divisions and directing them to different areas of the castle.

Summer walked the rest of the stairs, down to North and Bunnymund.  
"You two!" Tooth called. "Keep close to Summer. I know she's trained with you, Bunny, but I don't think it's safe to let her fight."  
"Not to worry, kid," Bunnymund said, putting an arm around her shoulder. "You're safe with us."  
"Not one nightmare will pass these blades!" North declared, whipping out his sabers and winking at Summer.  
"It's not me I'm worried about," Summer said, looking up as a troop of fairies headed to the west wing of the palace. They were such delicate, little things; Summer couldn't believe that they could do any sort of fighting. Let alone against the spectre of her nightmares. Summer shivered, and feared for the fairies. She couldn't bear to see the sweet little things hurt. How could Tooth send them out like that?  
North noticed her gaze, and smiled reassuringly. "Is no problem, Summer," he said. "Tooth's fairies, they are tough little things. It takes a lot to wear them down, they'll be fine."  
Summer nodded. She hoped they were right.  
Just as Tooth finished sending her fairies out, Jack flung the doors open and skidded back into the Palace. Before the heavy doors swung back into place, Summer caught a glimpse of a great dark undulating shadow, filled with thousands of yellow glowing points. The sight sent her skin crawling. Were those the Nightmares? There was something awfully, darkly familiar about those pale yellow eyes.  
"They're here!" Jack exclaimed. Tooth paled, but the determined look remained on her face. "I've got to join my fairies!" she cried, flying to the door and pulling it open. She slipped past it and was gone.  
Jack was hot on her heels. "Not by yourself!" he yelled, before he too had disappeared.  
Summer's throat constricted. She was so afraid.

"I don't like this, North," Bunnymund growled. "Waiting. What if they need our help?"  
"Tooth wouldn't have made us stay if she didn't think she could handle things," North said. "You know that."  
"And Tooth has a bloody awful habit of thinking she can handle things when she can't! You know that!"  
North frowned. "Bunny, we must trust her," he said. "Besides, we have our duty."  
Bunnymund harrumphed. North smiled weakly at him.

Suddenly, Jack crashed through the heavy marble doors.  
"Jack!" North cried. "Are you alright?"  
Jack pulled himself up and coughed. "They pack a hell of a punch," he said. "The fairies are holding up, though."  
A great black amorphous shape darted through the door, loosely forming the shape of a skeletal horse. Its narrow eyes glowed yellow. Summer shrieked in fright.  
Jack quickly righted himself and struck the creature with his staff. Ice took over the creature, freezing it solid, then with a solid blow from the butt of the staff, the creature shattered into frosty particles and white snow exploding everywhere.  
"We need backup!" Jack yelled, leaping back out into the fray.

They had underestimated the new Nightmares – last time, their strength had been in numbers. Individually, they'd been fairly easy to defeat.  
However, this time was different. There weren't so many, but the Nightmares themselves were stronger. They were more powerful, able to deal mighty kicks and blows that left Jack winded, and harder to kill. Jack wasn't so sure that they'd so easily overpower them anymore.

He glanced around; Sandy was surrounded in whirls of golden and black sand; several Nightmares had attacked him at once, appearing to intend to engulf him. Sandy was holding off, but only just.  
Tooth had retrieved a pair of daggers, and was using them to slice at the creatures. The one benefit of the new Nightmares and their more substantial forms was that it was harder for them to simply reform when physically attacked. Tooth was a marvellous flurry of iridescent feathers and flashes of metal; if Jack looked too long, he'd become engrossed and slip up.  
North and Bunnymund had apparently joined the party; they too were leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.  
_Where's Summer?_  
The Nightmare caught him solidly in the chest.

Tooth turned just in time to witness the incident, and gaped in horror as Jack plummeted to earth. He didn't get up.  
She forgot the battle and hurtled to his side, pulling his head on her lap. "Please be okay, please be okay," she whispered. "Jack, wake up!"  
Jack groaned and threw an arm clumsily over his torso. Tooth pulled up his sweatshirt and winced; an ugly purple hoof-shaped bruise was already forming against the white skin. He was well and truly out of action now. She pulled the material back down and hauled Jack up against her chest. A Nightmare whirled at her and she slashed at it with her dagger. _Never abandon a fallen Guardian._

She could feel that her fairies were also weakening; as each one fell, two more caught it and brought it back to the safety of the Palace, before returning to the battle. It wouldn't be long before the Nightmares would reach the Palace. Her stomach twisted at this thought.  
She looked up in time to see Sandy overcome by the Nightmares. They didn't try to engulf him, they knew this wouldn't work; however they were able to wrap around him and immobilise him, preventing him from using his dreamsand to fight them. Sandy struggled against the Nightmares, but he was fully incapacitated.

Tooth watched the Nightmares back North and Bunnymund up against a wall. Soon, they too were bound tightly, unable to move.  
Several Nightmares surrounded her and Jack, stamping the ground menacingly. Tooth brandished her dagger at them, but they were unperturbed.  
The Guardians were trapped. They'd been defeated, and so quickly. Tooth's feathers drooped. How had she underestimated them yet again? She hadn't imagined the Nightmares would be made stronger this time. How?

_Summer's nightmares. _She'd seen the pictures the girl had drawn. She hadn't imagined that a child would have such horrible dreams, and had barely been able to believe them. _Perhaps the drawings were merely scratching the surface. In that case... oh, Summer._ Pitch would have had the perfect material to create stronger Nightmares than ever before, no matter how few their numbers.  
She looked up, and an icy feeling slid down her back when she recognised the figure gliding to the front of the remaining Nightmares.  
His yellow eyes were aglow with triumph, and his teeth were bared in a victorious smile.

Pitch.

He clapped slowly. "A valiant fight, my dear Guardians!" he called. "And there I was afraid you'd fail to give me a warm welcome. Consider it the warmest I've received! However, I believe your efforts have been in vain."  
His eyes slid to Tooth. "It was certainly a pleasure to meet with your fairies again, my dear Toothiana. Determined little creatures, they are. However, I think you all have noticed that I've made a few.. design changes to my glorious Nightmares. What did you think of the second draft? I have to say, it's an improvement on the last lot. All thanks to the help of a dear friend of mine."  
His gaze turned to the marble doors, and a sinister smile spread on his face. Tooth turned to see Summer standing in front of the doors. She looked petrified.

Pitch spread his arms out, like a crow spreading its wings. "Summer! My darling. Surely you recognise me?"  
Summer stepped backwards, and Pitch laughed.  
"In any case, I didn't come here for nothing," he said. "You all put up a gallant fight, but did you know what you were fighting to protect?"  
"You won't defeat us again, Pitch!" Bunnymund spat, before a band of black sand snapped over his jaw. Pitch laughed; it was a low, sinister, gloating sound.

"You truly believed I would try to defeat you again so soon?" Pitch asked. "Really? Did you think I was so naïve?" He shook his head. "I expected better of you Guardians. Have you really not worked it out? I need to build up my army, as you can see. I have much work to do. And I'm missing a certain key tool for my work." His eyes rested on Summer.  
"You want Summer!" Tooth gasped in realisation. Of course; he'd want the girl to build up his army. How could she have missed it?  
"The penny drops," Pitch said lightly. "Now, if we could get this over with quickly, I won't have to lose any more Nightmares, and you Guardians won't have to lose any limbs. Summer; if you would come with me, my dear."  
Summer remained frozen, her eyes large and scared, her knuckles white on her cane.  
Pitch sighed, resting his long, white fingers on his forehead. "Let's try this again," he said. "Summer, do you want to see your friends suffer? They've done so much for you; they've protected you, fought for you. Look, they lie injured because of you." Pitch swept his hand towards Tooth and Jack. Jack grunted, struggling to sit.  
Summer gripped her cane harder. He was right.

_They're in danger, and it's because of me._  
_I ruin everything._

"Do you really want to see your friends suffer any more than they have to?" Pitch asked. He seemed almost sorrowful. "Summer, dearest. The longer your hesitate, the more they suffer. If you don't come with me, they'll simply die. Come with me, and my Nightmares will leave them alone; they'll be left in peace. You don't want to prolong their suffering, do you?"  
His hand was outstretched.  
"You don't want to kill your friends, do you, Summer?"  
"Don't do it, Summer!" Tooth cried out. She knew the Guardians would not die – Pitch simply didn't have the power. The Guardians would happily suffer for as long as they needed to until Pitch slunk back into his shadows. Pitch would only last until sunrise before he had to retreat.

But Summer didn't know that.  
Summer stepped forward. Pitch's eyes narrowed. "That's it, dearest."  
Summer took a deep breath. She was terrified; her heart thudded in her chest, the sound pounding in her ears and throat. Her hands and feet felt numb, her legs were turning to jelly. But she looked up, and stared straight into the eyes of the spectre who'd slunk in the shadows of her dreams for so long. It was strange, seeing him large as life in front of her, a real living being, rather than a shadow of a memory.  
She took another step, and pulled at her scarf. It felt too tight around her constricted throat.  
"Oh, Summer," Tooth murmured. Summer smiled bravely. "I'll be fine," she said in a voice that sounded calmer than she felt. "I can deal with nightmares, remember? It'll be fine."  
She walked straight towards Pitch, looking straight ahead. She refused to show how truly afraid she was to the king of nightmares.

Pitch smiled, and all of the Nightmares engulfed Summer.  
Tooth felt helpless as she watched the scene unfold. Summer had been standing in front of Pitch, head tilted upwards to face him, when suddenly the Nightmares surrounding the Guardians disappeared, and a flurry of black sand and whirled around the girl and obscured her from view. The undulating mass rose up in the air, and Pitch laughed.

The Nightmares rose higher and higher as Pitch laughed, and despair ebbed heavily into Tooth's chest. A mere girl, and they'd failed to protect her.

Then, the unexpected happened.

Pitch's laughter died in his throat; high up in the sky, a bright flame had burst at the summit of the mass of Nightmares.  
The Nightmares screamed, but it was too late; the black sand burst into glowing embers, the fire engulfing the creatures. It was over in an instant; the fire consumed every last creature, and burned itself out.  
And Tooth saw a familiar red scarf trailing as a small figure plummeted to the ground.  
"Summer!" Tooth exclaimed, then kicked off the ground, soaring into the air. She jettisoned towards the falling figure, and breathed as Summer's body fell into her arms.

Pitch was livid. "How?!" he screeched, yellow eyes wild with rage. They calmed as realisation dawned on Pitch.  
"She spent far too much time with you," he breathed. "You all wormed your way into her head, you changed her... after everything..."  
As Tooth flew closer, she could have sworn she could detect sorrow in the eyes of the Boogeyman. A deep loss showed on his face like a scar.  
"You took her from me," he said simply. "You turned my girl against me."  
"She's not your girl," Jack said. He seemed to be recovering from his injury. "She doesn't belong to you."  
Anger flashed across Pitch's face. "Yet again you've taken everything from me," he hissed. "It is never enough for you, is it?"  
"I believe it is time for you to leave," North said. He held his right saber up to Pitch. "Unless you'd like to stay and – how you say? Chat."

Pitch snarled, and in a flourish of shadow, he had disappeared. Hopefully for good.

North turned to Tooth. "How is she?"  
"Alive," Tooth said, hefting the prone Summer. She was completely unconscious. "Do you have any idea what happened back there?"  
North shook his head, frowning. "It is a puzzle," he said. "Perhaps Summer will have the answer, when she wakes."  
Bunnymund grabbed Jack's hand and hauled the boy to his feet. "D'ya enjoy getting injured or something?" he exclaimed. He smirked. "You like being cuddled by pretty nurses, do ya?" he said with a wink. Jack made a face and demonstrated that he wasn't in too much pain to elbow the chuckling Bunnymund hard in the ribs.

Sandy flew close to Tooth, inspecting Summer. "I don't think she's hurt," Tooth said. "Whatever happened, she came out on top."  
North sighed. "After all that, I feel it is time for hot cocoa!" he exclaimed. Jack groaned. "We're in the middle of the jungle, and you want hot cocoa?" he exclaimed. North grinned. "Is never bad time for cocoa! My shout."  
With that, the five Guardians and one strange human entered the Palace.

* * *

Author's Note:  
I don't know if people are going to think this is a cop-out solution or not o_o;;; I hope it's alright. This is just what I always imagined would happen.  
If the Guardians hadn't kept Summer with them for the three days, it would have been easy for Pitch to turn Summer over to his side. The kind of person she'd have become if the Guardians hadn't intervened is a totally different story. This solution was to show just how drastically the Guardians had changed her, to the point where Pitch couldn't use her as a tool anymore.  
So what happens to Pitch now? Who knows :P Maybe he'll try again, maybe he's given up. I wanted to make it clear how upset he was that Summer had changed. Is it _just_ because he can't use her in his plans anymore? Or does the loss run deeper than that? :)  
Also. Summer scored 29 on the Mary Sue Litmus test, by the way xD man, I'm pushing it... the thing is, a lot of the "Sue-ish" aspects of her character are there because they're essential to the story, y'know?  
One more chapter to go, by the way! I didn't think I'd be able to write this so quickly xD it feels very short to me.  
Not to mention, art! I figured you'd all like to see what actually Summer looks like :) as always, just remove the dashes (-)!  
artisticmusings-.-tumblr-.-com-/-image-/-42637573271


	11. Chapter 11

It did not take long for Summer to wake up. The Guardians had settled in the living area with cucumber water and hot cocoa for those who wanted it (North insisted that the best post-battle remedy was hot cocoa, no matter the weather). Summer had been laid out on a futon where she could rest under the Guardian's supervision, and Jack rested on a similar futon. Tooth had just returned from checking the state of her fairies, which was a short process as the mini fairies had remained relatively unscathed.

As she entered the living area, accompanied by Baby Tooth, her fellow Guardians greeted her. "How are the little ones?" North asked from his place at the table next to Bunnymund, while Sandy floated over and handed Tooth a silver cup of water. Baby Tooth immediately zipped to Jack's side.

"They'll be alright," Tooth said. "They're tough little things, they fought well tonight. Nothing permanent, thankfully!"  
"The little critters'll be up and at 'em in good time, then?" Bunnymund asked, and Tooth nodded. "Nothing worse than a few wing injuries, so it won't take long for them to recover," she confirmed.  
She darted to Jack's side. "My work never ends," she sighed. "How are you feeling, Jack?"  
"Better," he said, pulling up his sweatshirt. Baby Tooth cooed sadly at the injury. The bruise had developed into a huge black ugly mark. "It actually looks worse than it really is, that salve you gave me helped a lot."  
"The muscles shouldn't be damaged," Tooth said, running light fingers over the bruise. "You got lucky, Jack. That kick could have ruptured organs if the Nightmare had got you just a few centimetres lower."  
"It's a good thing I'm pretty bouncy!" Jack said, and Tooth laughed. "You keep using that salve, okay?" she said. "It'll help the pain and the swelling will go down faster."

"Sure thing, Nurse," Jack said, prompting a smile from Tooth.  
"And how's my other patient?" Tooth said, hovering over to Summer's futon. "Was there any change while I was gone?"  
"Not really," North said. "A little movement, but she stayed unconscious. I think she's asleep."  
Tooth quickly inspected the girl. Nothing seemed unusual; she lay on her side on the futon, arm dangling over the edge. Her mouth was slightly open and Tooth heard slight snoring. Her eyelids fluttered as the eyeballs darted about beneath them. Summer looked completely at peace.  
"She's definitely asleep," Tooth confirmed. As the words left her lips, however, Summer began to stir.

She shifted her shoulders, and her eyes fluttered open sleepily. They struggled to register Tooth. Her mouth opened and garbled mumbling tumbled from her lips.  
Tooth chuckled. "Wake up first, then talk," she said, helping Summer sit up. "North made cocoa, do you want any?"  
Summer nodded slowly. North beamed and triumphantly stood up, passing a mug of cocoa to Summer. Her hands fumbled, the mug nearly slipping. Tooth hastily took the mug; Summer's hands hadn't woken up enough to grip things yet.

Summer swallowed hard, blinked, and stared at Tooth. "What happened?" she asked.  
Tooth passed the mug back to her. Summer took a long gulp of the hot, sweet liquid.  
"We were kinda hoping you could tell us," Tooth said. Summer frowned. "What are you talking about?" she asked. "You guys were the ones doing the fighting."  
Tooth blinked. "You don't remember?"  
"I remember you guys fighting. North and Bunnymund had to help. I was afraid, so I watched from the doors." She looked guilty. "I'm sorry I didn't help," she said.  
Tooth frowned. "You don't remember anything after that?"  
"No. Why? What happened?" Summer looked confused. "My memory doesn't go any farther than that. Why was I asleep?"  
"Pitch wasn't attacking us to try to defeat us again," Tooth explained. "He attacked us so he could get you. Don't you remember? He asked you to come with him."  
Summer shook her head, looking afraid. "No," she said. "Why would he want me?"  
"To build up his army," Tooth explained. "Those creatures were created from your nightmares. He wanted you so he could create more."  
Summer burrowed backwards into the futon. "No! Where is he?!"  
"He's gone," Tooth said. "He tried to take you, but... you destroyed his Nightmares. We still don't know how. After that, he fled. He's powerless again. He can't use you anymore, Summer."  
"How did I destroy them?" Summer asked, eyes wide.  
"We don't know," Tooth said patiently. "One moment the Nightmares had engulfed you, then they just burst into flames. The fire destroyed them, and you were unscathed. We were hoping you would know what happened, Summer."  
Summer shook her head, eyes wide and scared. "This doesn't make any sense," she said. "I don't even remember what happened!"

"It's alright, Summer," Jack said. "The main thing is, Pitch is gone. He can't use you anymore, and he's not gonna try." He smiled reassuringly, and Summer relaxed a little. She cupped her hands around the mug, still looking puzzled.  
"Hey, Summer," Jack said. "Do you want to go on a walk? You, me, anyone else who feels like coming. It's a nice night, and I don't know about you, but I'm feeling kinda cooped up."  
He looked around the room. "Anyone else wanna come?"

Baby Tooth nodded vigorously, chirruping. Jack grinned. "Well, that's one," he said.  
Sandy shook his head. He made a dreamsand hat and briefcase and mimed going to work – now that the crisis was over, he needed to continue his work of bringing dreams to children.  
"I'll pass too, Jack," North said. "My bones are feeling weary after that exercise. I think after this cocoa, I'll be.. how you say? Hitting the hay."  
"Same here," Bunnymund said. "It's been a long day."  
Tooth pondered. She was tired too – her wings ached, and the thought of sleep was tantalising. But Jack's smile was more so.

"I'll come," she said. "A walk would be quite nice, I think. Do you want to come, Summer?"  
Summer stared into her mug for a few moments, then looked up and nodded. "I'll need my cane," she said. "But, yeah. A walk before bed would be good, actually."  
"Clear the old head, huh?" Jack suggested, and Summer nodded. "I'll just finish this," she said. "North, your cocoa is really good!"  
"I'm glad you say so," North said gleefully. "I have quite literally spent centuries perfecting my recipe, after all!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Tooth, Baby Tooth, Jack and Summer left the Palace for a walk in the forest. Well, Summer walked – Tooth and Baby Tooth hovered alongside as usual, and Jack floated beside her, claiming that the effort of walking caused his bruised muscles to twinge.  
"Do you remember Tooth's fighting, Summer?" Jack asked. Summer nodded animatedly. "I do," she said. "It was amazing! I never knew you could fight like that, Tooth, you were incredible!"  
"Well, they don't call me Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies for nothing," Tooth said with a laugh. "I don't fight if I can help it, to be honest."  
"And Jack!" Summer exclaimed. "You just kept getting back up. I lost count of how many times a Nightmare tried to take you out."  
"He shouldn't have been letting them slip past his guard at all," Tooth said sternly. "All those bruises! Jack, it's almost as if you enjoy getting injured."  
"The excellent care I get afterwards is a good incentive," Jack said with a wink. "I have a great nurse." Tooth blushed. Baby Tooth giggled.  
The banter continued as they walked. Jack joked about and got up to his usual antics – at one stage he saw a great tree vine, perfect as a rope, and attempted to swing on it. Unfortunately he forgot that vines are usually connected to trees, which means that one eventually crashes into the tree unless you get off quickly. Summer burst into uncharacteristic laughter when Jack smashed face-first into the tree trunk, sliding down theatrically.

Eventually she joined in – Jack found a coconut tree and attempted to climb it, but was hindered by his bruises. Summer excitedly demonstrated the best way to climb a coconut tree, and it was with unbounded glee that she reached the top and loosened a few coconuts, passing them to Tooth and Jack who hovered beside her. "We could cut them open and drink the juice when we get back," she suggested eagerly. "We used to do that when I was a kid!"  
"The flesh is delicious," Tooth agreed. "Jack, have you tried a coconut before?"  
"No, actually," Jack said. "Are they good?"  
"The best!" Summer exclaimed.

It didn't take long before Jack realised that Summer was actually having fun. A great thrill of pleasure tickled his spine when he recognised the look in Summer's eyes that he'd been waiting to see all along. Her eyes were alight with joy, and she laughed like a child.  
_I did it,_ he thought. _It took a while, but I did it. I got her to have fun!_  
Baby Tooth found that Summer was quite ticklish, and began a game of cat-and-mouse with her. Before long, the pair had disappeared out of sight, far ahead along the trail as the tiny fairy chased the girl. Summer's hysterical whoops had long since faded, and Tooth and Jack continued alone.

"You did it, Jack," Tooth said, nudging him gently. "I told you all you needed to do was try something different."  
Jack nodded bashfully. "I still feel bad about before," he said. "I was upset, but.. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You were just trying to help."  
Tooth shook her head. "I shouldn't have been pushing the issue," she said. "I know you can handle your job fine, it was unfair to pry. I'm sorry, too."  
"No, no," Jack said. "You weren't. I just overreacted, big-time, I'm the one who needs to apologise."  
"Jack, it's fine," Tooth said, smiling. "It all worked out okay in the end, didn't it?"  
"It did," Jack agreed. "I wonder what's next."  
"Oh, who knows," Tooth sighed. "Maybe Manny will finally tell us why we had to find Summer."  
"She might not be the right one," Jack reminded her. "I could be wrong."  
"I don't think so," Tooth said, smiling at him. "She was the only adult who saw us, after all. I trust you. I think you picked the right person, Jack."  
"You really think so?" Jack asked. Tooth nodded. "I know so," she said.  
Jack smiled. "You're a really great friend, Tooth," he said. "Thank you."  
Tooth returned the smile bashfully. _Just a friend?_

"I should come here more often," Jack said. "I sometimes forget you can have fun without snow. Plus it's a good excuse to see you."  
"Aww," Tooth chuckled. "Miss me?"  
"Yeah, actually," Jack admitted. His heart started pounding; he wanted to tell her, he really did, but he didn't want to slip up or give the game away too quickly. He had to go slowly.  
"I really like being with you," he said. His mouth felt dry; he swallowed hard. "I... you're fun to be around. And you're a good listener. And.. um.. I just really like being with you. I get excited to hang out with you."  
Tooth's cheeks went pink. "I like being with you too," she said. "I get excited to hang out too. It's... um, it's actually my favourite thing to do."

Jack smiled. "We should hang out more often. I don't want to take you away from your work, though..."  
"That's not a big deal. The fairies do well on their own, they won't mind if I'm away more often."  
"You don't mind?"  
"No, not at all." Tooth rubbed her arm nervously. "Why would I mind, Jack? It's more time that I get to spend with you. I.. like spending time with you more than anyone else."  
Jack smiled fully, his shiny white teeth making Tooth melt a little inside. "Same here."  
Tooth stared at his teeth, admiring the polished detail of each incisor, before she suddenly realised how close they were. They were almost touching. She could admire every detail of his teeth because her head was very, very close to his.  
"You smell nice," Jack mumbled. Tooth's cheeks felt very hot. "You do too," she replied.

Then, a little ball of feathers whacked Tooth square in the cheek.

"Ow! Baby Tooth!" Tooth glared at the little fairy. Damn, and she'd been so close. She'd thought Baby Tooth wanted Jack and Tooth together, why was she interrupting them?  
Baby Tooth waved frantically. Her big mismatched eyes were full of concern. Something was wrong.  
"What is it, Baby Tooth?" Tooth asked. Baby Tooth explained in her high-pitched bird-like language and Tooth understood.

"Something's wrong with Summer," Tooth said. "We have to get to her. Come on, Jack!"  
The pair flew after Baby Tooth through the forest. Baby Tooth had said Summer had stopped running, not even to avoid being tickled, and just sat down. Baby Tooth was afraid Summer might have hurt her legs.  
They soon found Summer. She was sitting motionless by a small creek, staring into the water. Her cane lay discarded beside her. She didn't appear to be in pain.  
"Summer, are you alright?" Tooth asked warily. Summer nodded. Tooth followed her gaze into the water; the girl was staring at her reflection.

"I was thinking maybe I should change my hair back to its old colour," Summer said. "It seems.. appropriate."  
"That would look nice," Jack said.

"Your old colour was blonde, wasn't it? It'll suit you," Tooth agreed. Summer looked up at the pair and smiled. "Thank you, guys," she said.

Then she burst into tears.

Baby Tooth squeaked in alarm. Tooth put her hands around Summer's shoulders. Her skin was hot, feverish. Tooth pulled the girl into a hug. "Summer, what's the matter?" she asked. The girl was crying too hard to respond. She just kept sobbing and shaking her head.  
"Are you alright, kiddo?" Jack asked tentatively, placing a hand on Summer's arm. "What's going on?"  
Tooth wiped away the tears staining Summer's cheeks. She stared at the liquid on her fingers. It might have been just the light of the moon, but... Summer's tears were dark. Very dark. And Summer didn't appear to be wearing makeup.  
Jack snatched his hand away from Summer's skin. Maybe it was his sensitivity to heat, but Summer's skin felt burning hot. "Tooth," he said urgently.

He reached towards Summer's arm again. He stopped his hand as it hovered over her skin – she was _radiating_ heat. This wasn't just normal human body temperatures, or even a fever. She was burning up.  
Jack didn't know how, but he realised they needed to get away from Summer. "Tooth, watch out!" Jack cried, ripping Tooth's arms away from Summer. He gripped Tooth around her waist and scrambled away from the girl. Baby Tooth zoomed off and hid in the branches of a nearby tree.

Almost as soon as they were about a metre and a half away, the girl burst into flames.

The initial shockwave blasted Jack and Tooth into the ground. Jack threw his arms over Tooth and ducked his head. He could feel his hair singeing. He looked back up to gape at Summer.

She was on fire.

It was hard to see through the flames, but Summer appeared to be golden. Her hair had returned to its natural coppery-blonde colour, and had been swept upwards off her face by the force of the blast. Most striking was the transformation of Summer's scarf – it had turned into a great length of undulating flame that wrapped around her neck and rippled around her body.  
Where her cane had been now lay a long staff, shaped like a shepherd's crook. At the end of the staff hung a paper lantern.  
Summer stared openmouthed at Jack and Tooth, and turned to the staff. Curiously, she picked it up.

As she touched the staff, all of the flames billowing across her body flowed down her arm and along the cane. The fire settled into the paper lantern, creating a great ball of fire. Summer's eyes widened as the lantern ignited.  
Now that she was no longer alight, Jack could see that Summer's skin had turned a golden honey colour, and her eyes had turned a brilliant green tinged with blue flecks. She was golden and glowing.  
Summer turned back to the pair. "This is incredible!" she gasped.  
"Summer, what just happened?" Tooth asked.  
Summer smiled, and it was a great, joyous smile. "I'm not really sure," she admitted. She glanced at the ground. "I think Manny knows, though."

Beams of moonlight showered the ground, and a silhouette of Summer in her new form appeared. Beside it appeared the dejected figure of an unhappy child. Summer's silhouette danced over to the child and held her flaming lantern over his head. The child straightened and appeared happy, comforted. A little flame ignited inside the child's chest.

Tooth understood. "You're the Guardian of _inner warmth,_" she exclaimed.

"So that's why we needed to find you!" Jack cried. "We needed to help you become a Guardian."  
"What does your scarf do?" Tooth asked. Summer shrugged, and they looked back to the ground.  
Now, the Summer-silhouette was standing close to the child, and wrapping the the long ends of the scarf around him. The child hugged into the flames and smiled.

"I warm them up," Summer understood. "My lantern gives them inner warmth, and my scarf warms them physically?"  
"I think I know why Manny gave you this job," Jack said thoughtfully.  
"Why?" Summer asked. She was still smiling with delight, but her eyes were filled with confusion.

"There are more and more kids like you," Jack explained. "I see them all the time. Tooth sees their memories."  
Tooth nodded. "I mentioned it before – more and more kids in the world are becoming cold and unhappy."  
"Families today aren't what they used to be," Jack continued. "Parents are more focused on work, siblings aren't as close. And man, if that wasn't bad enough, you should see the schools! Teachers put more and more pressure on kids to do well. And I've seen some of the t.v they watch; the media is telling them how they should be, what they should do or wear.. everyone's pushing these impossible expectations of perfection on them, and they just can't live up to them."

"Kids today are becoming more and more depressed," Tooth said. "I see it with every tooth I collect. I don't think there's been a generation of children more unhappy than this one. They're losing their innocence faster and faster, and unhappy children are growing into unhappy adults. We Guardians can only do so much – we can preserve their happy memories, help them have fun, show them hope and wonder. But it's hard to help a child whose inner light has died."

"You know what that's like," Jack said. "You know exactly what it's like to become disheartened. That happened to you. But not only that, you also know exactly what kind of warmth a kid needs. You grew soaked up in it. So you know what the kid needs, and you know how it feels to have that inner warmth taken away. You know exactly how to help these kids, Summer."

Summer smiled brightly. "This feels... right," she said. "Natural."  
"Like you've been wanting to do it all along but never realised it," Tooth said, and Summer nodded. "That's it exactly. I've never been sure of myself, what I wanted to do, but.. now I feel sure about this. This is what I want to do."  
She looked up at the moon, eyes wide as if to try to take the entirety of its round silver grandeur completely. She appeared lost in thought. Tooth watched the girl's feet unconsciously rise off the ground – Summer appeared weightless, rising like hot air.

"Summer Breeze," she murmured. "Is that... my name?"  
She paused, as if waiting for an answer. She broke out into a wide smile.

"Thank you," she murmured, then turned to face Jack and Tooth. "Thank you so much," she said, and pulled the two into a tight embrace. She seemed stronger somehow; Tooth was surprised by the crushing force of the hug. It was as if the sunlight that was the source of her strength now lived in her, empowering her. Her skin no longer burned, but was still hot, as if feverish. Her scarf felt pleasantly hot, rather than burning.

"I owe you guys everything," Summer said, voice thick with emotion. "You two found me. You didn't even know if I was special, but you saw something, didn't you? You guys believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself. And then you – all of you – helped me. None of you even knew me, but all of you were kind to me and helped me. You were so good to me, thank you."  
She giggled nervously and released the pair, rubbing her eyes. "That sounded so corny," she admitted, and Jack laughed. "Not at all, kiddo," he said, ruffling her now-unruly hair.

Tooth smiled and squeezed Summer's hand. "Ready to be a Guardian?" she asked.  
Baby Tooth darted close and bumped Summer's cheek with her head affectionately. Summer smiled and touched Baby Tooth's head gently. She looked up at Tooth and Jack, smiling warmly.  
"I think so," she said. She nodded "Yeah. I'm definitely ready."  
Her smile turned cheeky. "So who's gonna break the news to Bunnymund that I'll be kicking his furry butt in martial arts now?"  
The three Guardians chuckled, and together they headed back to the Palace. It was time to swear in the sixth Guardian, Summer Breeze, the brand new guardian of Inner Warmth.

* * *

_Epilogue:  
Once upon a time, there was a girl.  
She lived in a magical place, full of sunlight and warmth and brightness that filled her being with golden light. Her whole world was warm, light-filled and summery, and the girl was happy._

_But one day, the girl was sent to a place where the light could not reach her. It was filled with a coldness that seeped into every living being, chilling every creature to the core, and the coldness began to worm its way into the light-filled girl._

_The coldness ate away her light, and gradually the girl became swallowed up in a chilly darkness. _

_Her sunlight died, and the girl became sad._

_However there was one stray sunbeam flickering alight in the girl's heart, and the cold darkness fought endlessly with the weak sunbeam. For years, the girl was filled with turmoil, split between the darkness and the light. She felt torn, and could never be truly happy._

_One day, she met a group of unusual beings. These beings befriended her, and encouraged her sunbeam to grow. She didn't notice it, but inside her, the darkness grew weaker and the sunbeam grew ever stronger._

_After three days, the girl was overcome with a happiness that engulfed her in such a rush of emotion that she burst into tears. Nobody could calm her or comfort her, and she lay helpless, crying the last of the darkness away. _

_Once the last wisp of darkness was carried away by a tear, the girl burst into flames._

_The fire swept her hair up, sizzled away the last of her tears, and engulfed her in a sunny warmth that she hadn't felt in years. She radiated the warm brightness that she once basked in, with all the fiery glory of the sun, and was filled with a sense of fulfilment and purpose.  
In the way that she used to bask in the neverending sunny warmth of her childhood home, she was to bring the sun's light and warmth to those that the sun could not reach. She would bring the warmth and light to those who needed it most, just as she had needed it.  
Upon realising her purpose, the girl gave a great whoop of joy and floated up into the air, rising up like a hot-air balloon.  
She delightedly flew across the world, ready to start her mission, and it was with a sense of exhilaration that Summer Breeze settled into the first child's frozen heart._

* * *

Author's Note:  
Buhhhh it's finished! ;A; I can't believe it, I thought this would take much longer to write. I'm pleased with the progress, but I'm kinda sad it's finished now ;_;

I hope everyone enjoyed it! The ending was difficult, I everyone's happy with the way I wrote it. And I hope you liked it!  
I know it's probably not very popular to insert original characters as Guardians, but the whole reason I wrote this was because I started wondering about an opposite to Jack.  
I really couldn't find any childhood legendary characters that had anything to do with summer or fire, which I actually found disappointing because it would have been really interesting writing about an existing legend.  
Also I hate the cold, so I loved the idea of Jack finding someone who wasn't impressed with his icy antics, and being puzzled by their lack of enthusiasm. I liked the idea of Jack having to change his attitude to get people to have fun in a way that didn't involve the cold.  
I also thought a lot about the origins of this person, and it seemed appropriate that they'd come from a hot place. At the same time, the idea of having a character who was initially the opposite of their Guardian form intrigued me. Somehow those two ideas merged, and Summer Breeze was born! Everything else developed from there.

It is actually possible to find coconut trees in the jungle, by the way :P so it's not too unusual that they would happen across one at some stage. Usually what happens is, forest will be cleared and coconut plantations will be planted. The plantation might go bust and the trees will be abandoned, and the forest will take over the area. So you end up with all these random coconut trees in the middle of the jungle. Very weird!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this, and much gratitude to those of you who added it to your favourites, followed it and/or sent me lovely messages telling me you enjoyed it. I really appreciated it, thank you so much!

Also, arts :D I figured you'd all want to know what Summer looks like in her new form, heh ^_^ as usual, remove the dashes (-)!  
artisticmusings-.-tumblr-.-com-/-image-/-42725790870


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